Dramione Allsorts
by cleotheo
Summary: A collection of Dramione moments. Each chapter is a new moment featuring Draco and Hermione. Different universes and different scenarios are explored in every chapter, ranging from light and fluffy fun stories, to serious stories, and even a little bit of saucy action.
1. Unexpected Gift

**A/N – This is the fourth and final set of my new collections, and this set is for the collection pieces that don't really fit in the other three. In this collection there are all sorts of pieces, ranging from light and fluffy to serious and dramatic. This collection is also rated M, for the odd steamy collection piece.**

 **Like the other collections I'm posting, each chapter is from a different universe, and set at different times. Like the other collections, some of these pieces may feature in longer stories in the future, but there's also a few pieces written especially for this collection that I won't be taking any further (Mainly the sad pieces, where Draco and Hermione don't get their happy ending).**

 **As for publishing, there will be no set schedule as I'll update when I've got a new collection piece to publish, and at times there might by months in between updates.**

 **The first story in this collection –Unexpected Gift – takes place in a light and fluffy universe. No war, and no bad feelings between people. This story also features my favourite kind of Lucius and Narcissa to write – fun loving with a sense of humour. This is a fun, light-hearted snippet, meant to be humorous, and not taken seriously. Enjoy.**

* * *

 **Unexpected Gift.**

It was a gorgeous sunny day in July when Draco Malfoy and his fiancée, Hermione Granger called at the manor to discuss last minute wedding preparations for their upcoming nuptials. The pair were going to be married at an exclusive boutique hotel on the south coast, and Draco's mother, Narcissa, had been helping Hermione with all the arrangements. Since the visit was a pre-arranged one, Narcissa had everything ready for her future daughter-in-law. With it being such a nice day, she'd had a table set up in the garden, so everyone settled down in the sun to make sure the wedding would run smoothly in a little over two weeks time.

A couple of hours later, all the plans had been double checked and everyone was satisfied that nothing had been overlooked. It was going to be a wonderful day, and everyone was looking forward to it.

"While we're on the subject of weddings, I've got a little present for the two of you," Lucius announced as Narcissa packed up. "I'll be right back."

"What's he up to now?" Draco asked his mother as Lucius got up and headed into the manor.

"Search me," Narcissa replied with a frown. "This is the first I've heard of him having a present for you both. I thought our wedding present was going to be a villa in Greece."

"You're buying us a villa in Greece?" Hermione asked.

Even though she'd been with Draco for nearly four years it still took her by surprise how readily the Malfoys could spend thousands of galleons and not bat an eyelid. Hermione's family weren't exactly badly off, and growing up she'd wanted for nothing, but they'd never been able to afford to just buy a villa in a foreign country. Especially as Hermione knew the villa Lucius and Narcissa would have bought would be quite substantial. One thing she'd quickly learnt about the Malfoys was that they liked decent size properties, they didn't own any building that wasn't absolutely massive.

"Oops," Narcissa muttered sheepishly. "It was supposed to be a surprise. Do me a favour and act surprised when Lucius and I give you the deeds after the wedding."

"We will," Draco said with a chuckle. "So back to Father, you really don't know what he's up to?"

"Lucius Malfoy is a law unto himself," Narcissa replied with an elegant shrug of her shoulder. "I can't keep track of half the things that man gets up to."

"Sounds dangerous," Hermione remarked, taking a drink of her elf-made lemonade, made by the elves at the manor who were now free thanks to her work with the Ministry, as she tried to digest the news that she and Draco would be receiving a villa as their wedding present of his parents.

"It can be," Narcissa admitted. "But then again, you must know all about having an out of control partner."

"Hey, I'm not out of control," Draco protested.

"You my dear, are too much like your father," Narcissa said with an arched eyebrow. "You're impulsive and prone to acting without consulting Hermione."

"I do not," Draco argued.

"Yes, you do," Hermione laughed. "Just look at what happened last year. You went over to Blaise's for drinks, and the next thing I know I'm getting a floo call from Vegas because the pair of you decided to go gambling."

"That was all Blaise," Draco protested, wincing sheepishly at the memory. Yes, it was something they could laugh about now, but at the time Hermione had been furious that he'd taken off without first letting her know he was leaving the country.

"And you were just dragged along under protest, were you?" Hermione questioned.

Luckily Draco was saved from his fiancée's questioning stare as Lucius re-emerged from the manor and re-joined the table. If Lucius noticed he'd interrupted something he didn't comment as he handed Draco a large manila envelope.

"Have fun," He said mysteriously.

"With an envelope?" Draco snorted.

Lucius merely shook his head at his son and urged him to open up. Sharing a bemused smile with Hermione, Draco opened up the envelope and found a handful of legal documents. Pulling the documents out of the envelope he scoured them, before turning to his father with a frown.

"These are ownership documents for the Ballycastle Bats."

"I know what they are Draco, I've just gave them to you," Lucius responded.

"The what?" Narcissa asked in confusion.

"The Ballycastle Bats are a quidditch team," Hermione supplied. Even though she wasn't a quidditch fan she'd heard of the team as her best friend, Harry Potter, and his wife, Ginny, were professional quidditch players, although neither played for the Bats.

"You've bought Draco and Hermione a quidditch team?" Narcissa questioned warily. Even for Lucius, this was a strange and very unpredictable move.

"Not exactly," Lucius admitted with a slight shrug. "Let's just say I came into possession of the team, and since my interest in quidditch isn't what it used to be, I figured Draco could have some fun with the team. He can run the team himself, hire someone to do it for him, or sell the team on."

"What do you mean you they came into your possession?" Hermione asked as her fiancé studied the documents his father had given him. "How do you just happen to come into possession of a quidditch team?"

"It's a long story, one I'm sure no-one is really interested in," Lucius said, clearly trying to dodge the subject of how he came about the team.

"I'm certainly interested," Draco said, placing the documents down on the table and looking over at his father. "Something tells me this will be a good story."

"Hmm, I was just thinking the same thing," Narcissa murmured, fixing her husband with her firmest stare. "So come on Lucius, do share. Just how did you acquire the Ballycastle Bats quidditch team?"

Lucius was silent for a long moment, obviously contemplating the best way to spin his story, before he threw his hands up in the air in defeat. "Sod it. If you want the truth, here it is. I won them in a poker match."

"A poker match?" Narcissa repeated disbelievingly. "The poker matches you attend every month with your friends?"

"That would be the one," Lucius replied with a nod. Once a month, he and a group of wizards he'd known for years would meet up and have a few drinks and a few rounds of poker.

"What sort of stakes do you play for when you manage to win a quidditch team?" Draco questioned. When he played poker with his friends, the big winners usually walked off with a few hundred galleons, not entire quidditch teams.

"These days, anything goes," Lucius answered with a slight smirk. "Once upon a time we used to play for money, but these days we bet all sorts of things."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that," Narcissa said warily. "Just what do you bet, Lucius?"

"Depends on the situation," Lucius replied.

"Let me put this another way, just what have you lost?" Narcissa demanded.

"A few pieces of jewellery," He began. "Nothing you liked," He added hastily when Narcissa opened her mouth to yell at him. "A few ugly paintings, the odd house."

At Lucius's last admission, Hermione almost choked on her lemonade. The way he'd just casually mentioned he'd lost the odd house was stunning. Who lost a house in poker and didn't think to tell their wife about it?

"You lost the odd house?" She finally managed to ask when she finished spluttering.

"Two or three, I've lost track," Lucius answered airily.

"Which houses?" Narcissa questioned. She was just hoping Lucius hadn't lost one of the properties she loved.

"None we've visited in years," Lucius reassured his wife. "Remember that horrid little place in Prague, well I offloaded that to Greengrass a few years ago. I think he gave it to his youngest daughter as a gift for her birthday."

"This is crazy," Draco said with a laugh. "What else have you and your mad old buddies betted over the years?"

"I tell you Draco, more deals have been done over that poker table than in the office," Lucius said, warming up to the subject now it looked as though Narcissa wasn't going to kill him. "Not to mention marriages that have happened due to lost bets."

"Marriages?" Hermione questioned, hardly able to believe her ears. She'd heard of purebloods arranging marriages, but never betting their children.

"Just one or two," Lucius said. "How do you think Theo ended up married to Pansy?"

"His father bet him in a poker match?" Draco gasped. He'd always wondered about Theo and Pansy's marriage, but all Theo would tell him was that their fathers had arranged it.

"Just the once," Lucius replied. "Only he was foolish enough to lose."

"Please tell me you haven't bet me," Draco whispered, picking up on his father's emphasis that Theo's father had been foolish to lose, implying that someone else hadn't been.

"I had a good hand," Lucius reassured his son.

"You bet me on a poker match?" Draco exploded. "What the hell? What if you had lost?"

"Then you wouldn't be sitting here planning your wedding to Hermione," Lucius replied flippantly. "You would already be married to Millicent."

"Millicent," Draco screeched. "You tried to marry me off to Millicent Bullstrode?"

"No, it was Bullstrode that initiated the bet," Lucius corrected. "I never would have bet you if I didn't know I was going to win. I only bet important things on hands I know I'm going to win."

"Just what other important things have you bet?" Narcissa asked as Draco continued to grumble about the fact he'd almost ended up married to Millicent Bullstrode.

"Nothing to worry yourself over," Lucius said, giving his wife his best smile. "As I said, I've never lost anything important."

Narcissa gave her husband a look that told him she wasn't letting the matter lie, and would be back to it later, before she asked what other sort of bets took place at his poker games.

"Mainly it's houses, jewellery and other trinkets," Lucius explained. "It's only occasionally we bet children and wives."

"Wives?" Narcissa screamed, and Lucius turned pale, realising his mistake. "Lucius Malfoy, tell me you've never bet me on a poker match."

"Put it this way, Cissa, I've never lost you," Lucius joked.

"What?" Narcissa cried. "This is the craziest thing I've ever heard. You have to stop going to these poker matches."

"But I win more than I lose," Lucius argued. "Just look at the quidditch team I won for Draco. Then there was that gorgeous emerald choker I gave you for Christmas. Not to mention the ranch in Cape Town."

"You won my choker, and the ranch?" Narcissa questioned in surprise. The emerald choker had been her favourite Christmas present the previous year, and she'd already fallen in love with the sprawling ranch in South Africa that her husband had taken her to just a few months previously.

"I did," Lucius confirmed. "As I say, I win more than I lose. And I have never lost anything of importance."

"If you continue with these games, I have a few conditions," Narcissa warned her husband. "First, you never bet me or our son again."

"Done," Lucius said with a nod. "I've never bet Draco since he introduced us to Hermione and I knew he was serious about her. And I never bet you unless I can be sure I won't lose."

"How can you ever be sure?" Hermione asked. "Even good hands can be beaten."

"They can," Lucius agreed with a nod. "But I always use a sneaky bit of magic when Narcissa is on the table. There's no way I'd risk losing my wife, even if it just for the night."

"Just who has lost their wives?" Narcissa asked, suddenly curious about what their friends got up to behind closed doors.

"Let's just say that a few wives have been around the table on more than one occasion," Lucius replied with a smirk that promised he would confide in Narcissa once they were alone. "Not that I've ever won one either. I have no interest in any woman other than my beautiful wife."

Narcissa smile slightly at the compliment, before she went back to listing her conditions for Lucius's continued gambling. "Aside from not betting Draco and myself, you don't bet any other members of the family. I also want to know everything you win, and everything you lose."

"It's a deal," Lucius said. "I promise, I won't keep anything from you. But really, these poker games are very handy. How do you think I got such a good deal on the hotel for the wedding?"

"You won our wedding venue?" Draco questioned.

"I didn't win it exactly," Lucius replied. "You'd already expressed an interest in the place, and the owner happens to be Greengrasses cousin. So in one of our games, I suggested Greengrass invited his cousin and for one of the bets, I got the venue half price for the weekend."

"What did you have to bet against that?" Hermione wondered. She knew for a fact the hotel they were using for the wedding was very exclusive, and very expensive, so even half the price of hiring it for the weekend would be fairly hefty. "A minor manufacturing company the firm owns, nothing important."

"You bet the business as well?" Draco asked, before shaking his head. "Why am I surprised? If you can bet your own son and wife, you can bet your business."

"Don't be so quick to judge, I won the Potions Company you run," Lucius pointed out. Even though Draco was officially his second in charge at the family firm, he took a more hands on role at their largest Potions Company. "Of course it was just a tiny firm back then, but I built it up into what it is today."

"Okay, maybe this gambling lark isn't so bad," Draco conceded as he looked down at the papers sitting on the table in front of him and smiled at his name listed as the owner. "And I suppose it could be fun to own a quidditch team. Hey Hermione, do you think I could poach Potter from the Tornadoes? He's the best seeker in the league. And Red, she's a brilliant chaser."

Hermione groaned slightly as Draco kept listing the players he would love to poach from other teams, and the thing was, she knew he could probably do it. If he decided to run the quidditch team full time, he could easily turn the Ballycastle Bats into a major force in the league. And somehow Hermione suspected her future husband had just found himself a new career for the next few years. Trust Lucius to win something that would ensure she would have to suffer through never ending quidditch talk and matches. Was it not enough that two of her best friends played the sport, now her fiancé had to own an actual team to play around with. She would definitely have to find a way to get back at Lucius, it was time he learnt that some bets just shouldn't be won, and this was certainly one of them.


	2. Hope

**A/N - This collection piece takes place several years after the war. I have a sequel collection piece that follows on from this one, and I've already got notes to turn them into a full length story. Also I just want to say that this piece features an extra-marital affair - just in case that's not your thing.**

* * *

 **Hope.**

In one of the interrogation rooms in the Ministry of Magic, Draco Malfoy sat calmly as he waited for his lawyer and best friend, Blaise Zabini, to arrive. Earlier that day he'd arrived at the Ministry in order to give the Aurors a statement about a brutal attack on a business associate, however it soon became clear that the two Aurors in question, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, thought Draco was behind the attack. Given the fact he was a former Death Eater, albeit an acquitted and reformed one, Draco had refused to talk without his lawyer. Even though he believed that both Potter and Weasley were good men, and honest Aurors, he wasn't taking the chance of them spotting an opportunity to set him up and taking it.

Neither of the Aurors had been impressed with Draco's stance, but they'd had no choice but to break off the interview and call for his lawyer. That had been nearly half an hour ago, and Draco was still sitting alone in the interrogation room waiting for Blaise to arrive. Draco actually suspected they'd delayed calling Blaise so they could watch him through a two-way mirror they obviously thought he didn't know about. Even though Draco had never glanced in the direction of the large mirror, he knew that it existed and he knew that on the other side of the mirror, was a room where someone was undoubtedly watching him. Although if they were waiting for him to crack and act suspiciously, they wouldn't get anywhere as not only was he innocent, but he had a perfect poker face.

Just as Draco contemplated getting up and leaving, since he wasn't under arrest and had agreed to speak to the Aurors voluntarily, the door to the room opened and Blaise entered, with both Harry and Ron behind him.

"Perhaps we can get on with this now," Ron muttered.

"Not so quick," Blaise said. "I want to talk to my client alone."

"You've got five minutes," Harry said, pulling a reluctant Ron back out of the room.

Blaise waited until the door was shut, before he turned to face his best friend. "What's going on, Draco?"

"They think I attacked Sweeney," Draco answered.

"Burton Sweeney, that bloke you threatened last month?" Blaise checked.

The previous month, Draco had very publically threatened to drive an older wizard, Burton Sweeney, out of business. Draco had contracted Sweeney to provide glass flasks for his potions company, and the flasks he'd provided had been sub-standard. Draco had been furious with the terrible quality, and he'd cancelled Sweeney's contract with Malfoy Potions. Sweeney had retaliated by threating to sue Draco for breach of contract, and that was when Draco had vowed to make sure that the older wizard never got another contract in the Potions business again. The matter had gotten very vicious, and since one of their altercations had happened in a pub, the press had gotten hold of the story and had a field day gossiping about the rivalry between the two wizards.

"That would be the one," Draco confirmed with a nod. "He managed to get himself attacked and beaten up on Friday night. He's in a pretty bad way, and they reckon someone used a few dark curses on him."

"So of course they turn to you," Blaise muttered, instantly spotting the line the Aurors were going down. Not only had Draco had a public falling out with the bloke, but he was a former Death Eater, and would therefore know several dark curses. "Why didn't you call me before you came down here?"

"Because I didn't think they were going to accuse me of attacking him," Draco replied. "Because of our problems, I wasn't surprised they wanted to talk to me. But I didn't expect them to start accusing me. The second they started doing that, I refused to speak and asked for you."

"Let's get them back in here and get this mess cleared up," Blaise said.

Poking his head out of the door, Blaise called Harry and Ron back into the room. Unsurprisingly the two wizards were standing outside of the room next door, meaning they'd probably been listening to the whole conversation. Blaise was rather annoyed that they'd breached Draco's right to talk to his lawyer in private, but he knew how things worked, which was why he'd never asked Draco anything that could lead to him incriminating himself. Not that he thought his friend had done what he was being accused of, but it wasn't wise to take chances given his past.

"So let's get going," Harry said as he and Ron slid into the seats opposite Draco, while Blaise settled down beside the blond wizard. "You admit to having problems with Sweeney."

"I'm not going to deny that," Draco replied with a rueful chuckle. "Everyone knows what I think of the man."

"And what's that?" Ron asked.

"I think he's a lying, no good cheat," Draco answered. "I paid him a fair price for him to supply my Potions firm with quality glass flasks, and he reneged on our deal. He supplied cheap tat which shattered far too easily. So, yes I had a problem with him, but it was purely a business matter."

"But he was threatening to sue," Ron pointed out. "The publicity wouldn't have been good for your company."

"I can handle a bit of bad publicity," Draco said with a smirk, after all he'd dealt with all the publicity surrounding his past as a Death Eater. "Besides, even if he sues, we're in the right. He'd lose the case."

"But maybe you didn't want to take that risk," Ron said. "Maybe you thought giving him a good beating would get him off your back."

"I do not conduct my business using violence," Draco replied through gritted teeth.

"But you can't deny you've got a dark history and being known to lash out in the past," Ron argued.

"We can all lash out if provoked," Draco said softly, focusing on Harry.

Harry knew Draco was thinking about the incident in sixth year when the pair had gotten into a fight, and Harry had almost killed the blond. At the time he'd been more concerned with hiding his Potions book from Snape and staying out of trouble, but now he could see how badly he behaved. In fact, his attack on Draco was the thing he regretted most in his life. It was true that Draco had fought back, and could have quite possibly being going to use an unforgivably curse on him, but Harry had been the one to instigate the fight, and he'd then thrown an unknown curse at the blond. He was just thankful that Draco had survived and he hadn't had to live with his death on his conscious.

"Let's talk about the time of the attack," Harry said, clearing his throat and moving the subject away from violence. "Where were you last Friday evening?"

"Italy," Draco answered. "I travelled to my villa in Tuscany about half past six, and I stayed there until late Sunday afternoon."

"Can anyone confirm that?" Harry asked. "Maybe your fiancée."

"She wasn't with me," Draco replied.

"What about customs at the Italian border?" Ron queried. "They should have a record of you entering the country."

"I flooed directly to the villa," Draco said. "There was no need for me to travel via the Ministry."

"And there is no law against it," Blaise quickly added, seeing that Ron was about to argue. "People are free to move between countries as they wish. Italy is not one of the wizarding countries that demand a foreign wizard register with their Ministry. Draco has broken now laws."

"Maybe not, but he's also got no alibi," Ron replied with a smug grin. "All we've got is his word he was in Italy."

"I was there," Draco insisted.

"But can you prove it?" Harry asked. "Give us one person who saw you in Italy, and can prove you were there."

"I can't," Draco replied.

"So you never left your house?" Ron questioned with a disbelieving snort. "You spent two days in Italy and no-one saw you."

"Precisely," Draco answered with a nod. "I was taking a quiet break."

"A break from what?" Harry asked.

"Life," Draco replied.

"This is all looking awfully bad for you, Malfoy," Ron remarked with obvious glee. "A wizard you have a problem with is attacked and hurt using dark magic, and you don't have an alibi."

"Coincidence," Blaise snorted. "You cannot arrest someone based on coincidence. Do you have any proof Draco was at the place where Sweeney was attacked? Do you have any proof that he wasn't in Italy? No, you have no evidence what so ever. And since Draco has now helped you, we'll be leaving."

"Besides, if I had done this, do you really think I wouldn't have an alibi?" Draco questioned as he and Blaise got to their feet to leave. "If you're right, and I did this, the first thing I would have done was secured myself a cast iron alibi. I wouldn't say I was all alone in a foreign country, with no way of confirming it. Just think about it."

"We will," Ron vowed. "We'll think about how you did this, and how we're going to prove it. You're lying to us, Malfoy, I just know it."

"Am I?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow, and giving the two Aurors a wicked smirk he turned and left the interrogation room alongside Blaise.

Blaise gave Draco an unimpressed glare as they entered the lifts at the end of the corridor. "Did you have to say that at the end?" He snapped, once they doors were closed and they began their descent downwards. "Now they're going to be more eager than ever to prove it was you."

"Well it wasn't," Draco replied with an unconcerned shrug. "I'm innocent, Blaise."

"I know you are," Blaise said. "But Weasley was right about one thing. You lied to them. There's something more you're not saying, and I want to know what it is."

"Not here," Draco muttered as the life stopped and the doors opened, letting more people into the small box with them.

The two former Slytherins travelled the rest of the way to the atrium in silence. They then headed for the fires at the far side of the atrium, and flooed to Draco's expensive penthouse, which offered spectacular views of both muggle and wizarding London.

"Do I get a full explanation?" Blaise asked as he sat down on one of the chairs in Draco's large living room.

"What do you want to know?" Draco questioned as he settled himself on the sofa opposite his best friend.

"Firstly, what were you doing in Tuscany?" Blaise asked. "And don't give me that nonsense about wanting to be alone. If that was what you'd wanted, you would have gone to one of your penthouses in a city, where you could have seen the sights and went out for a drink. Tuscany's the sort of place you go with someone."

"Fine, I wasn't alone," Draco admitted.

"You said Astoria wasn't with you," Blaise said. Astoria Greengrass was Draco's fiancée, although they'd been engaged for over a year and there was still no sign of a wedding taking place. Astoria didn't even live with Draco, and from what Blaise had seen, she didn't spend that much time at the penthouse either.

"She wasn't."

"Ah." Blaise nodded as he understanding dawned on him. "You were being a naughty boy."

"Very naughty," Draco answered with a grin as he recalled his weekend of debauchery.

"I still don't get it," Blaise said with a frown. "Not the cheating thing," He clarified when Draco gave him a disbelieving look. "Hell, I can understand why you've got someone else on the go. Astoria's an ice queen, just looking at her is enough to give you frost bite, I can't imagine what it's like shagging her."

"So what's the problem?" Draco asked.

"The problem is you're being accused of a crime you didn't commit," Blaise replied. "It was very clear that Potter, and especially Weasley, think you did this. They're going to go all out to prove you assaulted that man."

"They can't prove anything, I didn't do it," Draco argued.

"Draco, with your past, they don't need much more than innuendoes," Blaise pointed out. "If they decide to pin this on you, they could make a decent case. They can prove you've got a problem with the bloke, they can prove you've got experience with dark magic, and right now you can't prove you were in Italy. You need to tell them about this woman, she can corroborate your story, and they can look elsewhere for their attacker."

Shaking his head, Draco got to his feet and wandered over to the window. "I can't tell them about her."

"Why not?" Blaise exploded. "And don't say because of Astoria. I'm sure she'll not like the fact you're screwing around behind her back, but we both know she won't walk away from you and your money. And even if she did, it's not like you love her. Astoria is not the reason you're keeping quiet, so what is?"

"This can't go any further," Draco warned as he turned back around to fix his friend with a piercing glare. "As my lawyer, I'm instructing you that what I'm about to tell you is strictly confidential. No-one is to find out about this."

"Okay," Blaise replied warily. Suddenly he had a bad feeling about what Draco was going to tell him. "So why won't you tell the Aurors who you were with."

"Because at the time of the attack, I was in bed with Potter's wife," Draco revealed.

For quite possibly the first time in his life, Blaise didn't know quite how to react to Draco's confession. Of all the things he'd been imagining, he'd never thought his best friend would confess to shagging Harry Potter's wife. The entire thing was unbelievable, and it took Blaise several minutes to regain his voice.

"Seriously?" He finally managed. "You were in Tuscany with Granger? You're shagging Hermione Granger, war heroine and wife to the golden boy, Harry Potter."

"Yes Blaise," Draco replied, rolling his eyes at his friend's dramatics. "My alibi is that I'm having an affair with Hermione. Now tell me again, how I should have told Potter who I was with at the weekend."

Blaise shook his head in disbelief, wondering just how Draco had gotten himself involved with Hermione. After the war, it had been a shock to almost everyone when Hermione and Harry had announced they were dating. Most people, including Blaise himself, had been under the impression that Harry had been getting cosy with the Weasley girl, Ginny, while Hermione looked to be on the verge of getting together with her other best friend, Ron. However, the Weasleys didn't seem put out by the relationship and the pair were as close as ever to the family of redheads, and they were all present when they tied the knot a mere eighteen months after the end of the war. In the years since then, they'd very much became the golden couple of the wizarding world, and in every picture Blaise had seen of them, they looked very happy together. So how the hell had Hermione come to be sleeping with Draco behind her war hero husband's back?

"I think I need a drink," Blaise muttered, desperate for a shot of Firewhisky, even though it hadn't yet hit midday.

Draco obediently poured his friend a drink, and after handing the glass of amber liquid to his friend, he sat back down on the sofa. Blaise drowned the drink in one go, before placing the glass on the coffee table and turning to Draco.

"Come on then, give me the whole sorry tale," Blaise urged. "Tell me just how you ended up shagging Potter's wife."

"Well, it all started eight months ago," Draco began. "Mother made me accompany her to one of her charity functions because Father was away. Anyway, it turned out Hermione was on the charity board alongside Mother, so she was there. We got talking, and she revealed that Potter had stood her up. She didn't say as much at the time, but I got the impression it was a regular thing. Personally, I thought he was mad, but these days Hermione is as hot as hell. Apart from Mother, she was about the only other person in the room I actually knew, so we spent most of the evening talking. Of course we were also drinking, and we'd both had a fair few as the night drew on. The evening was being held at some fancy country hotel, so we ended up going for a walk in the gardens."

"Don't tell me you did her in the gardens," Blaise interrupted with a groan. From Draco's story, it was a miracle the entire wizarding world didn't know what had happened between the pair of them.

"It was secluded and no-one saw us," Draco answered with a shrug.

"Talk about risky," Blaise muttered with a shake of his head. "So go on, how did shagging at a party lead to weekends in Tuscany?"

"A few days after the party, Hermione came to my office and told me what had happened was a mistake and wouldn't be happening again," Draco continued. "As she pointed out, she was married and I was engaged. That should have been the end of it, but you know me, I've never known when to leave well alone. I'd been hoping for a repeat performance, and I wasn't too happy when she made it clear that wouldn't be happening. The sex had been hot, and it was clear that Hermione had a wild side she didn't let out very often."

"So let's guess, you pursued her," Blaise stated.

"I did," Draco admitted. "It was easy enough to find out what social events she would be attending, and I just made sure I would be there as well. Surprisingly, it didn't take long before we were regularly sneaking off together at these events, then we started arranging to meet up on other occasions. I may have pursued Hermione, but she was a more than willing participant in this affair."

"Trust you to enter into an affair with the most inappropriate witch," Blaise grumbled. "Although, I still say if Potter and Weasley are intent on getting you for this attack, you need to tell them who you were with. It might be messy, but it's better than you going to jail for something you didn't do."

"No," Draco stated firmly as he got to his feet once again. "No matter what happens, I will not tell them I was with Hermione."

"And what happens when she hears about what's happening?" Blaise questioned. "Granted, I might not have seen her in a long time, but unless she's changed completely, she won't stand back and let you go to prison when she can give you an alibi."

"I can handle, Hermione," Draco said. "Believe me, she won't come forward if I tell her not to."

Blaise shook his head, not really sure that even his best friend could handle Hermione Granger and tell her what to do. Even when they were at school, she wouldn't be bossed around. She would stand up for what she thought was right, and from what Blaise had seen of her since then, she was still the same. She'd spent a couple of years campaigning for the freedom of house elves, and even though most people thought it was something she would never achieve, she'd proved them wrong. Now house elves were all free, and even though they still worked in the same manner they were all paid a wage and treated fairly under the new laws she'd helped pass. So there was no way Blaise could see her standing back and watching Draco getting carted off to Azkaban when she could prevent it.

"This is madness, Draco," Blaise pointed out gently. He didn't want Draco to get mad at him and throw him out, but he needed to talk some sense into him. "I know it's a bad situation, and the truth will be unpleasant, but you can't hide this if it means you go to Azkaban."

"Unpleasant," Draco snorted, amused by his friend's choice of word to describe the carnage that would ensue of word of his affair with Hermione got out. "It wouldn't be unpleasant Blaise, it would be disastrous. Do you have any idea what this would do to Hermione's life? It would ruin it. She's a war heroine, people look up to her. Hell, there's even rumours that one day she could run for Minister. She's got a perfect life, and I will not ruin that for her. I will not taint her name by letting everyone know she's sleeping with a Death Eater."

"Bloody hell," Blaise whispered in shock. "You love her. You've only gone and fallen in love with her."

"Now you understand," Draco said quietly as he turned to look out of the window. "We keep quiet and hope we can prove my innocence, or if we have to, we'll find whoever did this ourselves. Whatever the outcome, I will not ruin Hermione's life and reputation just to save myself."

"I hope this all works out, Draco," Blaise said with a sigh as he got up and joined his friend at the window. To be honest, he now felt so very sorry for Draco, in love with a witch he could never truly have.

"So do I," Draco replied softly.

Hope was really all he did have. Hope that the truth would emerge and he wouldn't be arrested for a crime he didn't commit. And more importantly, hope that one day he would be more to Hermione than her dirty little secret. Draco knew the chances of ever being with Hermione properly were slim to none, but that didn't stop that little part of him for hoping for the best. To be honest, it was why he hadn't yet married Astoria. Deep down he was hoping that Hermione would leave Harry, and they could run off together. Not that he thought it would happen, but he could dream. Although even if it never happened, he wasn't going to leave Hermione. He loved her more than anything, and he would rather be her secret lover, than be nothing at all to her. So as he stood looking out over London, all Draco could do was hope that things all worked out.


	3. Hope Realised

**A/N - This is the sequel to Hope, and is set about a month later. Just another reminder that this piece (and the previous piece) features an EXTRA MARITAL AFFAIR - in case that's not your thing. I like to put these warnings, as I know what it's like to read something, or start to read something, and you find an element that you wouldn't choose to read about if you'd been warned.**

 **As for future plans for these two pieces, I do intend to turn them into a full story. The full story will deal with how Hermione ended up married to Harry, and how she ended up having an affair with Draco. It was also deal with what happens after these two collection pieces. For those who are reading this piece, I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

 **Hope Realised.**

Blaise Zabini hovered in the atrium of the Ministry of Magic, debating whether or not he should follow through with his plan. His plan involved talking to Hermione Granger, about his best friend, Draco Malfoy. Blaise knew Draco wouldn't be happy if he found out what Blaise was planning, but Blaise couldn't see any alternative. Things were looking bleak for his friend, and Hermione could be the key to keeping him out of Azkaban.

Almost a month ago, Blaise had been called to the Ministry, where he found Draco ready to talk to the Aurors about an attack on a business associate, Burton Sweeney. Before the attack, Draco had publically threatened the other wizard, so naturally the Aurors were trying to pin the brutal attack on him, despite their lack of evidence. Despite his pleas of innocence, Draco had been unable to give the Aurors an alibi for the evening of the attack, although he later gave Blaise one.

Draco's alibi was that he was in Tuscany with his lover, Hermione. The only problem was that Hermione just so happened to be married to the Auror in charge of the investigation, Harry Potter. Despite Blaise's best efforts, he just couldn't convince Draco to call on Hermione as his alibi. Draco had fallen in love with Hermione, and he refused to do anything that would ruin her excellent reputation in the wizarding world.

Even though Blaise didn't agree with Draco's decision, he'd respected his friend's choice and hadn't pushed the matter too far. That was until the previous day when Draco had been called into the Ministry and the Aurors had officially charged him with assault. Despite not having any solid evidence, the Aurors clearly felt as though they had enough circumstantial evidence to get a conviction. Although it really didn't help that the Aurors had found another couple of people that did business with Sweeney and they claimed he always supplied them with top quality merchandise, whereas Draco's problems with the man arose from the fact he said the merchandise Sweeney had provided was sub-standard.

Blaise had managed to get Draco released on bail, but he knew unless they could find solid proof of his friend's innocence before a trial date was set, it would be the end for Draco. Given Draco's past as a Death Eater, Blaise knew any trial would result in his friend being found guilty. What he needed to do was clear Draco's name before things got that far, and in his opinion the only way to do that was talk to Hermione. Even if Draco didn't like it, Blaise had to at least try and get Hermione to give the blond an alibi. Draco was his best friend, almost like a brother to him, and Blaise was not going to let him go to Azkaban for something he didn't do.

Making a firm decision, Blaise charged over to the lifts and climbed into one of the golden compartments. He'd deliberately waited until late afternoon on a Friday to visit Hermione, as he knew the Ministry was quieter and there was less chance of anyone seeing him going to see her. Although, even if he was spotted, he had a perfect excuse ready to go. The Ministry were always looking for witches and wizards who spoke foreign languages to aid the Department of International Co-Operation, so Blaise was going say he was looking into any job possibilities for a lawyer with his abilities. Not only did he speak fluent Italian, but his French wasn't too bad and he could even speak a bit of Spanish.

Luckily for Blaise he didn't need his excuse as when he reached the floor where Hermione worked, he found the place practically deserted. Hoping that he hadn't misjudged things and that Hermione was still working, Blaise quickly located her office on the floor plan, which was helpfully pinned up beside the lift, and headed off in the hopes of catching Draco's lover. Again luck was on Blaise's side as he reached Hermione's office just in time to find her assistant putting on her coat.

"Miss Granger is in her office," Hermione's assistant supplied, when Blaise enquired about her boss. "But she doesn't have any appointment listed for this evening."

"It's just a quick thing," Blaise replied, giving the young witch his most charming smile. "I'll be in and out in a few minutes. I'm sure she won't mind if I just poke my head in."

"Alright then," The assistant replied, smiling back at Blaise. "She doesn't normally mind people just dropping in. Do you want me to introduce you?"

"That's okay, I can do it myself," Blaise answered. "You get off home and enjoy your weekend."

Blaise gave Hermione's assistant another flattering smile as he waited for her to head towards the lifts before he moved across to Hermione's door and knocked on it. As he waited, he vaguely wondered why Hermione never used her married name. Her assistant called her Miss Granger, and even the gold plaque on her door said Hermione Granger. Not that Blaise got an answer to his question as he heard Hermione's voice call out for him to enter her office.

Taking a deep breath, and mentally praying that Draco wouldn't kill him for what he was about to do, Blaise pushed open the office door. Hermione's office was neat and professional, a bit like the witch herself, who was sitting behind her desk, her brunette head bent over some paperwork. When Hermione looked up, her eyes widened in surprise when she found Blaise standing in her doorway, but she hid her surprise quickly as she gave Blaise a small smile.

"Blaise Zabini," She said quietly. "Did we have an appointment I forgot about?"

"I don't have an appointment," Blaise replied as he stepped into the office and gently shut the door behind him.

"So what can I do for you?" Hermione asked with a frown.

"It's private," Blaise answered. "It's about Draco."

"Draco?" Hermione repeated, her expression unreadable.

"I'm just going to be straight with you Hermione, I know all about you and Draco," Blaise said as he sat down in one of the chairs in front of Hermione's desk. "But don't worry, I'm not here to blackmail you or anything like that. I need to ask you a few questions."

"About Draco?" Hermione asked warily.

"Yes," Blaise confirmed with a nod. "Do you love him?"

Hermione blushed slightly as she averted her eyes. "I don't really think that's any of your business. In fact, I don't think any of this is your business. I don't know why Draco told you about us."

"He hasn't told you, has he?" Blaise exploded. He assumed that his friend had confided in his lover about what was going on, but clearly he was wrong.

"Told me what?" Hermione questioned, concern evident in her sparkling brown eyes.

"He's been charged with assault and using dark magic," Blaise replied. "Although even if he hasn't told you, I'm surprised Potter hasn't. Your husband is the one in charge of the case alongside Weasley."

"Harry doesn't talk to me about work," Hermione muttered, flushing slightly at the confession. "But why don't you tell me just what is going on."

Blaise quickly filled Hermione in on the situation, and the witch was clearly horrified by what he was telling her. Blaise never mentioned Tuscany, but as soon as he mentioned when the assault happened, he saw the pieces click together in her head.

"Look, I can't make you do anything, Hermione," Blaise said when he'd finished bringing the brunette witch up to date. "And as Draco's lawyer, I can't tell the Aurors what I know. All I can do is implore you to do the right thing. Draco's freedom is at stake here. I wish there was a way to do this without dragging you into things, but as it stands, I fear my best friend is going to end up in Azkaban for a crime he didn't commit."

"No, he won't," Hermione whispered. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Blaise. I know what I have to do."

"I'm sorry for any inconvenience," Blaise apologised as he got to his feet. "I just couldn't sit back and let Draco go to jail, not when I knew there was someone out there that could clear his name."

Hermione nodded once and when Blaise turned to leave her office, the brunette witch was lost deep in thought. She couldn't believe that Draco would keep quiet and face going to Azkaban just to keep her good reputation intact. As she sat, thinking about what her lover was prepared to do for her, a lone tear streaked down Hermione's cheek. The sad thing was, all this could have been avoided if only she wasn't such a coward. Making a decision, she got to her feet and quickly packing her work away she grabbed her coat and left the office.

As she travelled down to the atrium, Hermione considered how her life had ended up such a mess. To everyone else she had the perfect life and the perfect marriage, but Hermione knew it was all just an illusion. Her marriage was far from perfect, and truth be told it was the biggest mistake that either she or Harry had ever made. They'd mistaken a passionate affair, borne in the midst of the war, as something deeper and they'd ended up married.

However, as the dust settled on their marriage, the cracks began to show. Almost immediately it became clear that they had very different views about how their marriage should work. As a war hero, Harry was in popular demand and was often required at Ministry's functions, which he expected Hermione to attend with him. Hermione had done her best to be by his side as much as she could, but sometimes her own work had taken priority and Harry didn't like it when he sometimes had to attend functions on his own. Aside from work differences, their other main problem was starting a family. Harry was keen to crack on and have several children, whereas Hermione wasn't ready to have children just yet. She wanted a career and a life first, but Harry thought starting a family young was the way to go.

By the time they'd reached their second anniversary, Hermione knew marrying Harry was the biggest mistake of her life. By that time they were barely speaking to one another. When he wasn't working Harry spent his time with Ron, and when she wasn't playing quidditch, Ron's sister, Ginny, who also happened to be Harry's ex-girlfriend. As for Hermione, she threw herself into her work, hence her senior position at such a young age and the rumours that one day she could become the Minister for Magic.

However, work wasn't enough to keep Hermione fulfilled, which was where Draco had entered into things. At the time when they' reconnected, Hermione had just had the worst fight of her life with Harry. The pair had torn strips off each other, bringing up everything that annoyed them about the other one. Then Harry had shot the ultimate barb at Hermione, telling her that he never should have married her, instead he should have married Ginny who would have been the perfect wife and devoted mother to his children. After that fight, Hermione hadn't been too surprised when Harry had then stood her up at the charity evening where she ran into Draco.

Hermione would like to say her affair with Draco was just to get back to Harry for hurting her with the Ginny remark, but deep down she knew it wasn't true. Draco gave her life meaning, and she knew after only a few months sneaking around with the blond that she felt more for him than she'd ever felt for Harry. In the space of the nearly nine months she'd been with Draco, she'd managed to fall head over heels in love with him. And now was her chance to regain control of her life and stop living a lie. No matter how messy things got, it was time to tell the truth and save Draco from a fate he didn't deserve.

By the time Hermione had considered her past, and made the vow to do whatever it took to help Draco, she had reached the blond's penthouse. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on Draco's door. Less than a minute later the door was opened by a surprised looking Draco.

"Hermione."

"Hi," Hermione replied with a small smile. "Can I come in?"

"Of course." Draco stepped back to let his lover into the penthouse. He was still stunned to see Hermione as she never just turned up unannounced.

Building up her courage, Hermione walked straight into the large living area. Draco followed behind her, clearly still baffled by her presence. However, he played the genial host and offered her a drink. Hermione accepted the offer and quickly drowned half a glass of expensive rose wine, before she brought up the reason for her visit.

"Why didn't you tell me, Draco?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"Tell you what?" Draco asked. He was guessing Hermione had found out about his arrest, although to be honest he was surprised that she hadn't known sooner given Harry's involvement in the case.

"Stop playing games, Draco, this is serious," Hermione snapped. "You've been charged with assault and using dark magic, and you didn't think to tell me."

"Blaise is handling it," Draco replied. "There's nothing for you to worry about."

"Are you serious?" Hermione exploded. "You could go to jail for this, Draco. You know there's still so many people who would love to see one of the Malfoys rotting in jail. Why are you giving them an opportunity to see it happen?"

"You don't understand, Hermione," Draco sighed. "I can't prove my innocence."

"Yes, you can," Hermione said softly, her anger disappearing from her voice. "You can tell them who you were with on the night in question."

"No way," Draco spat, stubbornly shaking his head. "I will not take you down with me, Hermione."

"And I will not see you go to prison for a crime you didn't commit," Hermione insisted as she walked over to her lover and took hold of his hand. "Don't ask me to sit back and do nothing, Draco. I can't watch the man I love have his life ruined."

"Love?" Draco whispered.

"Yes, love," Hermione said with a gentle smile. "I love you, Draco. I've wanted to tell you for a long time, but I didn't want to ruin your life."

"That wouldn't ruin my life," Draco replied, unable to stop his own smile from breaking out. "It would be the best news ever."

"I didn't want to create waves with your father," Hermione explained. "I know how much family means to you, and I know that your father would never approve. I figured if I didn't tell you, we could just carry on the way things were. I didn't want to risk losing you by asking you to choose between me and your family."

"But what about Potter?" Draco asked. "I know things aren't great between the pair of you, but he's still your husband. And let's face it, a war hero is a better match than a Death Eater."

"Not for me," Hermione replied. "I'd pick you over Harry any day of the week. I love you, Draco and I want to be with you. I'm going to talk to Harry and I'm going to give you your alibi for last month. I will not let you go to jail because of this stupid notion you've got of protecting me."

"It's not stupid," Draco insisted. "I appreciate you wanting to help, Hermione. But have you really thought this through? If you expose our affair, you're ruining your life. Your chances of ever being Minister for Magic are gone. No-one will ever elect a witch who cheated on her hero husband with a Death Eater."

"I don't care about becoming Minister for Magic," Hermione insisted, reaching up and stroking Draco's face. "I won't deny, it would have been something I would have liked to do. But it doesn't compare to being with you. I'd choose you over my job any time. Let me do this, Draco. Let me save you, and then we can be together. Unless you don't want me."

"I want you," Draco answered with a slight growl as he pulled Hermione into his arms. "I've wanted you since the first time I kissed you. I love you, Hermione, and there's nothing I want more than to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Then whatever happens, we face it together," Hermione said. "No more hiding, no more sneaking around. We're going to tell the truth. And yes, it's going to get messy and nasty, but we'll have each other. And at the end of the day, that's all that really matters."

"It is," Draco agreed as he bent his head and connected his lips with Hermione's.

Right there and then Draco's hope had been realised. Things weren't over, not by a long stretch, but now there was light at the end of the tunnel. With Hermione by his side, he knew he could face whatever the world threw at him. Together they could weather any storm, which was a good job, as things were going to be far from plain sailing for the loved up couple. There was a rocky road ahead, but they would face the fallout from their affair together. Now they'd made the decision to be together, nothing in the world could now tear them apart.


	4. Birthday Visit

**A/N - First things first, this collection piece comes with a warning of a major character death. This is not something I usually write as I'm sure all my regular readers know I'm a happy ending sort of writer. This is a collection piece that will never become more than this, and it will never feature in any of my other stories. However, it was nice to stretch myself and write something different, but it's not something I will be doing again. This is a one off, and even though it's a sad piece, I hope people enjoy getting something a bit different from me.**

* * *

 **Birthday Visit.**

It was a bitter September day as Draco Malfoy left his home, Malfoy Manor, and apparated to the small muggle village a few miles from the manor. Draco visited the village twice a year, and he only ever visited the one shop, the florists. He used the muggle village, rather than the wizarding village a bit further north, because he was known in the wizarding village, whereas no-one knew him in the muggle world. In the muggle world he could buy his flowers in peace, whereas in the wizarding world, people talked and word of his visit would likely get back to his wife, Astoria, and then she would either expect flowers, or question why he was buying flowers for someone else. Of course Draco could have just bought flowers for his wife while he was at the florist, but they didn't have that sort of relationship.

Draco had married Astoria because it was his duty to provide the Malfoys with an heir, and she was a nice pureblood girl which appeased his parents. Granted, since the war Lucius and Narcissa weren't quite as fussed about blood status, but they still valued old traditions, and they would have kicked up a fuss if Draco hadn't married a nice pureblood girl from a respectable family. As a Greengrass, Astoria fit the bill perfectly, and she had the added bonus of not annoying Draco too much. Unfortunately, Draco didn't love his wife the way he should, but he cared deeply for her and on a whole they had a pretty solid marriage. They respected each other, and were happy enough, and Astoria had even just announced she was pregnant.

However, there was something about Draco that Astoria didn't know. In fact no-one knew his biggest secret, and that was that he'd once been in love. When he was a teenager, he'd been head over heels in love with a girl, and she'd loved him back. Sadly, circumstances made their relationship difficult, and they'd been forced to hide their love. Draco had always hoped that after the war, things would have worked out for them, but it wasn't to be. On that final day at Hogwarts, where the final battle between Voldemort and Harry Potter took place, the love of his life had been struck down and killed. They'd never gotten their chance at happiness, and because their relationship had been a secret, he hadn't even gotten to mourn her properly. He'd been forced to keep his grief to himself, and deal with his loss in his own way.

The two secret trips he made each year, was part of Draco's way of grieving for the love of his life. After buying the most, beautiful bunch of red roses in the florist, Draco apparated to a small wizarding village named Godric's Hollow. It was there the love of his life was buried, at a graveyard near to where her best friend's lived. Luckily Draco knew exactly where her friends lived, and he was able to avoid going anywhere near their houses as he made his way to the cemetery.

When Draco reached the cemetery, he paused when he spotted three familiar figures standing by the grave he'd come to visit. Slipping into the trees that surrounded the picturesque graveyard, he watched as the figures of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Ginny Potter, placed flowers on the grave. From where he was standing, Draco couldn't hear what the trio were saying, but he could see Ginny dabbing at her eyes with a handkerchief. Slowly the trio moved away from the grave, where they then went on to put flowers on another grave, which Draco knew was a joint grave belonging to Harry's parents, James and Lily.

Draco waited for the trio to leave the graveyard completely, before he stepped out of the trees and slowly made his way to where the three Gryffindors had been moments earlier. All too soon he was standing at the grave of the witch he loved. With a sad sigh, he knelt down and placed the roses on her grave, before he gently brushed his fingers over the name etched into the marble tombstone – Hermione Jean Granger.

"Happy Birthday, Hermione," Draco whispered, remaining on his knees, for once not caring about the fact his designer trousers would be getting dirty. "I wish you were here to celebrate with me."

As he knelt in front of Hermione's grave, Draco bowed his head and let the tears fall. He only ever cried when he visited Hermione, on her birthday and on the anniversary of the day she'd died. The time he spent at the grave was the only time Draco gave himself to cry for the witch he loved. Of course, he missed her all the time, but only when he was at her graveside did he really grieve for her. The rest of the time he was able to hide his broken heart, and the rest of the world was none the wiser about the love he'd lost.

Draco knelt at Hermione's graveside for quite a while until his tears stopped. Wiping his eyes, he raised his eyes and stared miserably at her tombstone. Even though she'd been dead for over five years, Draco still felt the injustice of her death. She was an innocent, a good person, and she hadn't deserved to die the way she had. If anyone should have been killed, Draco thought it should have been him. He'd been on the wrong side of the war, granted it was by force rather than choice, but he'd still done terrible things. If anyone had deserved to be killed in battle, it was him. Hermione shouldn't have been the one to go, she worth more than that and Draco felt the wizarding world had lost a lot with her death. She would have changed the world, of that he was sure. The world was a darker place without Hermione in it, and not just his own personal world.

"Why did you have to leave me?" Draco whispered in a broken voice.

Of course, he got no answer, and he was left kneeling in the cold cemetery thinking about what could have been. If things had been different, he could have been married to the witch he loved. Maybe Hermione would now be pregnant, and he would be getting ready to be a father with her by his side. Truth be told he was terrified of the prospect of having a child, and he was so worried that he would turn out to be like Lucius, cold and distant with his children. He knew if he had Hermione with him, she would be able to ease his fears, but he didn't. He was all alone and he would just have to do the best he could.

"I promise to try my best," He vowed to Hermione. "I know you're not here, but I know you always believed in me, even when I didn't deserve it. I won't let you down, Hermione. I will be the man you always said I could be. I'll make you proud."

"I'm sure she would have been very proud of you," A soft voice said from behind Draco, and whirling around he found Ginny standing behind him.

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked, jumping to his feet and swiping at his still wet eyes in order to try and hide the fact he'd been crying.

"I dropped my bracelet a bit further down," Ginny answered, pointing in the direction of the Potters grave. "I came back for it, and saw you here. I guess now I know who Hermione's mystery mourner is."

"Mystery mourner?" Draco asked, wondering how the redhead knew he'd been visiting the grave.

"The flowers are a bit of a giveaway," Ginny said with a small smile. "Every birthday there's a fresh bunch, always gorgeous and clearly expensive. There's always a similar bunch on her grave in May. I just never knew who was bringing them."

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone," Draco said.

"Why?" Ginny asked. "Are you ashamed of loving Hermione?"

"Never," Draco answered fiercely. "I will love Hermione until the day I die. I just don't want to cause unnecessary heartache for people. I'm not sure your husband and brother would like it if they discovered Hermione and I were secretly involved. I don't want to sully her memory for them. Please just let me make these visits in peace."

"I won't say anything," Ginny promised. "How does your wife feel about these visits? I must say, she must be pretty understanding. I was only here a few minutes, and I heard how much you loved Hermione. It must be hard for her, knowing she's only second best."

"Astoria and I don't have the same sort of marriage as you and Potter," Draco replied. "We don't love each other the way you two clearly do. And as for Hermione, she doesn't know about her. Hermione is the part of my life that's just for me. I don't want to share her with anyone."

"I understand that," Ginny said with a nod. "I should be going before Harry comes looking for me. But I meant what I said, Malfoy. If Hermione was here, she'd be proud of you. You've turned your life around and you're a good man."

"Thank you," Draco said softly, turning back to Hermione's grave as Ginny headed off to return to her husband and brother.

Draco stood in the graveyard for another few minutes, before leaning down and straightening the flowers he'd left on the grave. "I love you, Hermione, and I always will," He whispered.

Straightening back up, he took a moment to compose himself before he turned and exited the graveyard. He then apparated back home, where he once again assumed the mantle of Draco Malfoy, the unflappable, pureblood heir to the Malfoy fortune. As he went about his daily life, no-one was any the wiser about the grief he was carrying around with him. No-one noticed his broken heart, and for the rest of his life no-one realised he was in love with the feisty muggleborn witch who'd died a heroine in the final battle of the second wizarding war.


	5. Reactions

**A/N - I'm back from my break. This week I'll be publishing a piece from all four collections, as well as a one shot. Next week sees the return of Children, and my new story - Scarlett Dragon.**

 **As for this piece, it's a fun light-hearted one, and takes place when Hermione and Draco are a bit older.**

* * *

 **Reactions.**

Stepping out of the shower, Draco Malfoy wrapped a towel around his waist and threw another one over his shoulders as he headed into the bedroom, where his wife Hermione, was sitting at her dressing table getting ready for their evening out. The couple were off to meet their best friends, Blaise and Daphne Zabini, as their friends celebrated their wedding anniversary.

Dropping a kiss to the top of Hermione's head as he passed her, Draco walked over to the large walk-in-wardrobe and dropped his towel. As he did so, he caught sight of his reflection in the full length mirror inside the wardrobe and he couldn't help but appreciate the sight that greeted him. Considering he was the wrong side of forty, he thought he was looking pretty good. He was still lean and toned, thanks to regular running and swimming sessions, not to mention the fact he and Hermione still had a smoking hot, energetic sex life. In fact, Draco thought he had a body men half his age would kill for.

Grinning at his reflection, Draco moved closer to the mirror as he began to towel dry his hair. As he dried his hair, he caught sight of Hermione watching him from across the room and his grin got even wider. If he'd been unsure of his body before, he certainly wasn't now he had Hermione's attention. Even now, after twenty years of marriage, she still went weak at the knees at the sight of his naked body. Not that he was much better, as in his humble opinion there was nothing sexier than a naked Hermione.

"Enjoying the show?" He asked, turning his head around to smirk at his wife.

"I've seen better," Hermione replied with a teasing smile as she turned back to her own reflection.

"Never," Draco grumbled as he refocused on drying his hair.

However, as he turned back to the mirror, something caught his eye and his mouth dropped open in horror. Moving closer to the mirror, he examined his reflection carefully as he confirmed he hadn't been seeing things. Staring at the mirror in horror, he let out a small moan of distress.

"What's wrong now?" Hermione called, not bothering to turn around. "Don't tell me, your favourite shirt isn't clean. Honestly, you're such a diva some times."

When Hermione got no answer from her husband, she turned round and spotted the way he was staring at his reflection. However, while he'd been admiring himself moments earlier, he was now looking at himself in horror. Not sure what was wrong with her husband, Hermione got up and walked over to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked, genuinely concerned by Draco's actions.

"It's awful," Draco whispered. "Just awful."

"What's awful?" Hermione questioned, her eyes scanning Draco's body for something unusual. All sorts of thoughts were going through her head, and Draco wasn't exactly being helpful with his monosyllabic answers.

"This," Draco replied, pointing to his head.

Hermione leant up to check out her husband's head, wondering if he banged it in the shower or something. However, she couldn't find anything amiss with Draco's head. It looked normal, and it felt normal.

"I can't see anything," Hermione said as she ran her fingers through his damp hair.

"Here," Draco insisted. Batting Hermione's hands away from his hair, he held up one strand of his hair.

"I'm still not sure what I'm looking at," Hermione replied.

"The hair," Draco answered in a haunted voice. "It's grey."

"Seriously?" Hermione spat, giving her husband a good slap on the arm. "You vain git, I was worried there was something wrong with you."

"There is something wrong, I'm turning grey," Draco argued.

"How can you even tell?" Hermione asked in annoyance. "It looks the same colour to me."

"It's not, its grey," Draco whined. "I've got my first grey hair."

"Join the club, sweetheart," Hermione muttered as she turned and stalked back to her dressing table.

Momentarily getting distracted from his own problem, Draco turned around to face Hermione. "You've got grey hairs?"

"Have had for over a year now," Hermione replied with a casual shrug of her shoulder.

"Why haven't you said anything?" Draco asked.

"Because I'm not a drama queen like you," Hermione retorted. "A few grey hairs mean nothing. Some people start getting them from when they're teenagers."

"Poor sods," Draco muttered as he turned back to his own reflection. "But this is bad enough. Come on, do I look that old?"

"The odd grey hair isn't going to make a difference to your looks," Hermione argued. "It'll not even be noticeable."

"It is to me," Draco grouched. "And where there's one, more will follow. Before you know it, I'll have a head full of grey hair."

"And what if you do?" Hermione shrugged, unconcerned by her husband's problem. "Everyone goes grey, it's just part of life."

"But grey means old and unsexy," Draco whined. "I'm not old and unsexy."

"I'm sure your father would disagree with grey means old and unsexy," Hermione said. "He's been grey for years, and he still oozes sexiness. I know half a dozen witches my age that wouldn't kick him out of bed. And he's not exactly an old man either, he's got the energy of a teenager."

"Did you just call me father, sexy?" Draco turned to his wife in shock, momentarily causing him to forget his own problem.

"You know he is," Hermione replied. "Both your parents are very attractive. You should be grateful really, as it means you have great genes. I say take Lucius as an example of what you can be like in twenty five years. The man is nearing seventy, and he's still in top shape. I'd be happy if you followed in his footsteps."

"You think I'll still be sexy as seventy?" Draco asked with a smirk, his confidence returning.

Hermione turned around and shot her husband a wicked smile. "I think you'll still be sexy when you're a hundred. A few grey hairs aren't going to change that. Now stop fretting and get dressed, I don't think Blaise and Daphne will appreciate it if you turn up to the restaurant naked."

"It could be an anniversary surprise for Daphne," Draco cheekily returned. "I can show her what a real man looks like naked."

"I'm sure she has no complaints with Blaise," Hermione retorted.

"Don't go calling my best friend sexy as well," Draco complained as he turned back to the mirror and began to fix his hair so his newly found grey didn't show.

Hermione just chuckled in response and finished getting ready. Once she was ready, she went to check their youngest daughter, Cassiopeia, was ready to head to her grandparents for the evening. Cassiopeia hadn't yet started Hogwarts, but her two older siblings, Scorpius and Lyra, were currently up in Scotland at the wizarding boarding school. After getting Cassiopeia settled at the manor with Lucius and Narcissa, Hermione returned home and once Draco was ready, they set off to meet Daphne and Blaise.

The two couples were having dinner at a new Italian restaurant in Oxford, and Draco and Hermione had no sooner arrived at the restaurant then Draco went off to the bathroom to check his appearance. In fact, he was still in the bathroom checking his hair when their friends arrived.

"Where's Draco?" Daphne enquired as she greeted Hermione with a peck to the cheek.

"He's having a crisis," Hermione confided. "He found his first grey hair today."

"Never a good thing," Blaise said wisely. "I was distraught the day I found my first grey hair. In fact, I was so outraged I took a razor and shaved all my hair."

"When was this, I can never remember seeing you bald?" Hermione asked with a frown. Blaise's hair had always been shorter than Draco's, but she couldn't recall a time when he'd shaved his hair off.

"The hair wasn't on my head," Blaise chuckled, wiggling his eyebrows at Hermione.

Hermione shook her head as she realised just where Blaise had found his first grey hair. Thankfully, she never found out anything else about Blaise's experiences as Draco returned to the table. Of course, Blaise couldn't resist winding Draco up about being old and past it throughout the meal. Hermione did think that Draco might be a bit touchy about being past it, but he was used to Blaise and he just laughed off his friend's jibes.

However, once the couple got home, Draco was eager to prove that he wasn't in fact past it. With Cassiopeia at the manor for the night, the couple had the run off the house and Draco proved that he wasn't old and decrepit several times, before the couple called it a night and collapsed into bed, exhausted from their exertions.

"Wow, if that's your response after finding a grey hair, you should do so more often," Hermione joked as he tried to get her breath back. Even though their sex life had never really diminished over the years, and was still more than healthy, it had been a long time since they'd had as much sex in one evening.

"I hope I don't find more. At least not soon. I don't know if I can cope with so much exertion at my age," Draco joked. Now he'd had time to think about the hair, he knew that finding one grey hair wasn't anything to be overly concerned with.

"Yeah, you're an old man now, you better take it easy," Hermione chuckled, snuggling into her husband as they settled down in their large king size bed.

"I'm not completely past it yet," Draco replied as he gave Hermione's backside a squeeze.

"That's good to know," Hermione said, smiling up at her husband. "Cassie's not due back until tomorrow afternoon, so I thought we could have lie-in tomorrow morning."

"I'm up for that," Draco agreed.

Hermione gave her husband a cheeky grin as she grabbed his manhood in her hands and gave him a gentle squeeze. "Not yet, but you will be."

Laughing, Draco leant down and gave his wife a kiss, before they both settled down and drifted off into a contented sleep. Even though they were no longer the teenagers that first got together in Hogwarts, their feelings for each other hadn't changed. If anything they just grew stronger each day, and with twenty years of marriage behind them, they were more in love than ever before and their sex life was just as fulfilling as it had ever been. A few grey hairs weren't going to change anything for the couple.


	6. Almost Caught

**Almost Caught.**

"So where are your parents?" Hermione Granger asked her boyfriend Draco Malfoy as he led her towards his bedroom in the vast manor he lived in with his parents, Lucius and Narcissa.

It was the fourth week of the summer holidays in-between the pair's sixth and seventh year, and Draco had invited Hermione to the manor to meet his parents. However, the second she'd alighted from the floo network he'd taken her hand and announced he was going to take her to see his room.

"Around," Draco replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "But don't worry about them, we can see them later at dinner."

"And just what did you have in mind for us to do until then?" Hermione asked with a laugh, knowing full well just what sort of activity her boyfriend had in mind.

Draco turned his head towards his girlfriend and gave her a wicked smirk. "Take a wild guess. I haven't seen you in weeks, so I want to get reacquainted with my sexy girlfriend."

"You've got a one track mind, Draco," Hermione replied, not minding in the slightest. Even though the pair enjoyed a healthy sex life she knew there was more to their relationship than just sex, and if she wasn't in the mood Draco would never try and push her into doing anything she wasn't happy with.

"As if you haven't," Draco snorted, thinking of all the times Hermione had been the one to initiate sexual activity.

Conceding that Draco was right, and she was just as eager to get to grips with him after several weeks of not seeing each other, Hermione followed her boyfriend to his wing of the house and into his childhood bedroom. As Hermione had expected the room was decorated in deep green, but surprisingly apart from the walls, it wasn't an overly Slytherin room. It was clear that Draco was a proud Slytherin, but nothing too over the top. To be honest Ron's room at The Burrow was more of a shrine to the Chudley Cannons that Draco's was to his school house.

"It's not too Slytherin for you, is it?" Draco asked.

"I've seen worse," Hermione replied with a shrug. After all, they'd messed around in the Slytherin boys' dorms during the previous school year, and they were the epitome of house pride in the decorations.

"And is the bed big enough?" Draco questioned, pulling Hermione into his arms and nibbling at her neck.

Hermione glanced over at the large, king-sized four poster bed. The sheets were possibly the only other marker of the room belonging to a Slytherin as they were black and emerald green.

"I'm sure it'll be just fine," Hermione replied. "Although we'll only ever find out if we try it."

"Who am I to argue about that?" Draco grinned at Hermione as he suddenly swept her up in his arms and carried her over to the bed.

Hermione laughed as Draco threw her on the bed and climbed on after her. Settling themselves in the centre of the large bed, the couple slowly began to get reacquainted with each other following their few weeks without seeing each other. For a long time the couple were happy to just kiss, but gradually their hands began to wander and they began to undress one another, throwing their clothes down the side of the bed. Finally the couple were naked and things began to heat up. However, a few minutes later things were just about to increase further when they heard a noise outside the bedroom door. In horror, they both turned their heads and spotted the door handle moving.

"Shit," Draco swore. "Get under the covers."

Hermione barely had time to dart under the covers, before Narcissa entered Draco's room. Luckily Draco had also had time to get his bottom half under the covers, so Narcissa didn't see anything too embarrassing.

"Why are you in bed?" Narcissa asked, frowning at the sight of her son sitting in bed during the daytime while her eyes scanned her son's bedroom.

Narcissa had been in the front room with Lucius not long ago when one of their house elves had mentioned seeing Draco with his girlfriend. The couple had been expecting Hermione for dinner, and had just assumed Draco had invited her over early. However, Narcissa was eager to meet her son's girlfriend, knowing that Draco was head over heels for her, and had popped up to meet the witch in question. However, there was no sign of Hermione in the room, although Narcissa had a damn good idea where her son's girlfriend was.

"I'm not feeling well," Draco lied, and Narcissa barely surprised the urge to roll her eyes at her son.

"You do look flushed," Narcissa mused, deciding to have a bit of fun with Draco. Before he could say any more, she'd moved to the side of the bed and pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "Oh yes, you've definitely got a temperature. Do you want anything?"

"I'll be fine," Draco replied. "I just need a bit of peace and quiet."

"Are you sure?" Narcissa questioned, injecting some motherly concern into her voice. "I could call a healer if you're feeling feverish."

"No," Draco all but yelled. "It's just a headache," he added in a normal voice when Narcissa gave him a strange look. "I just need an hour's sleep."

"Fine," Narcissa conceded with a sigh. "But at least let me straighten your covers. They're a mess."

"No." Draco grabbed onto the covers as Narcissa made to lift them up. If his mother lifted the covers, she would see a lot more than she bargained for.

"What's wrong, Draco?" Narcissa asked with a frown, even though she knew exactly why Draco didn't want her lifting his covers. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Of course there isn't," Draco replied, very aware that Hermione was hidden under the covers and her hand was beginning to tease his alert manhood.

"It is just a headache, isn't it?" Narcissa checked, stifling a laugh. "You're not suffering from something else? I could go and get your father if it's personal."

"No," Draco cried, his grey eyes widening in horror at the thought. He was having enough trouble with his mother, he didn't think he wanted to deal with his father as well, who would most definitely see something was up and investigate further "I don't need Father. Honestly, all I need is a nap."

"Fine, but if you're not feeling any better later on, we're calling a healer," Narcissa insisted. "And of course if you're still not well, we'll have to cancel dinner with Hermione."

"That won't be necessary," Draco said quickly. "A quick nap and I'll be fine before Hermione arrives."

Narcissa nodded her head, impressed with her son's dedication to keeping up his story of felling unwell. "Okay then, but do you want me to open a window before I leave?"

"No," Draco replied with a shake of his head. "Why would I want you to open a window?"

"You're clearly feeling hot, you've taken your top off," Narcissa said, feigning innocence as though she had no idea why Draco had his top off. "Although really if you're not feeling well, you should keep wrapped up."

"I spilt juice on my top," Draco said, sprouting the first lie that sprung to mind. "I took it off to change, but then I decided to have a nap and decided there was no point putting on a clean top to crease it as I slept."

"You really should cover up," Narcissa said, glancing around the room. "Where's your pyjamas? I'll grab you a pair and you can change into them."

"I really don't need pyjamas, Mother," Draco said through gritted teeth, wondering just when his mother would get the hint and leave.

"I can take a hint," Narcissa muttered, holding her hands up as she decided to take pity on her son and leave him to spend the afternoon with his girlfriend. "I'll leave you to get some rest. Just send for an elf if you need anything."

"I will," Draco said, offering his mother a weak smile as she turned back and once again checked his temperature.

"I guess I'll leave you to it," Narcissa said with a sigh. Unable to resist one more attempt to wind Draco up, she once again reached for the rumpled bed-covers. "But are you sure you don't want me to straighten your covers? The bed looks very uncomfortable in such a mess."

"I'm perfectly fine," Draco said, holding onto the covers to stop Narcissa moving them. "I'm sure I'll be asleep almost as soon as you leave."

Narcissa muttered another quick apology, hiding her amused smile, before finally leaving the room. As soon as he was sure his mother had left for good, Draco threw back the covers and freed Hermione. Looking up at him, Hermione burst into laughter.

"Oh, that was so funny," She spluttered. "I could have sworn she was going to catch me."

"I thought so too," Draco admitted. "Man, she can't half fuss."

"I think it's a mother thing," Hermione replied as she settled herself next to Draco. "My Mum's the same when I'm ill."

"But I'm not ill," Draco argued. "Although I might well have become ill if Mother had pulled back the covers and gotten an eyeful. I'm not sure I could have lived that down."

"Yeah, that would have been embarrassing," Hermione agreed.

"So, are you up for continuing, or has Mother ruined the moment?"

"If you lock the door, we can continue."

Jumping up, Draco went and locked his bedroom door, before rejoining Hermione on the bed so they could pick up from where they'd been disturbed earlier. Outside the bedroom door, Narcissa chuckled to herself when she heard the lock click on Draco's door. Thoroughly amused by her son's antics, she headed back downstairs to rejoin her husband.

"So what was she like?" Lucius asked when Narcissa returned to the front room.

"I didn't get to meet her," Narcissa answered, before filling her husband in on what she'd walked in on.

"That's brilliant," Lucius laughed. "I can't believe he thought he was fooling you."

"Sometimes I think he forgets who I'm married to," Narcissa said. "I know all about Malfoy men, especially teenage Malfoys. I was well aware he wasn't alone in bed."

"Maybe I should go up and check on him," Lucius suggested with a mischievous smirk.

Narcissa shook her head and stopped Lucius from getting up off his seat. "Leave him, Lucius. I'm sure we can have some fun with them over dinner."

"I'm sure we can," Lucius agreed as he settled back into his chair. He was already planning on just how he could let his son and Hermione knew they'd been rumbled over dinner. It was certainly going to be an interesting first meeting with Draco's girlfriend. It would be a meeting no-one would forget in a hurry, that was for certain.


	7. Bed Rest

**A/N - This is a bit of a saucy one - enjoy!**

* * *

 **Bed Rest.**

Draco Malfoy was bored out of his mind as he sat in bed, his leg propped up with a pillow. Ten days ago, Draco had been involved in a nasty quidditch accident, which had left him with a twisted knee. Even though the healers had eased his pain and started the healing process, there had only been so much they could do and the rest of his injury had to be healed with patience and bed rest. Patience wasn't one of Draco's strong points, and he was bored of bed rest as his wife was too busy looking after their five year old son to give him any real attention.

Almost as if the thought of being bored had summoned some action, Draco's five year old son, Scorpius, tore into the room. With his platinum blond hair, large grey eyes and pale complexion, Scorpius was the double of his father. He was also mischievous and troublesome, but at the same time he was lovable and full of joy and it was so hard to stay mad at him for any length of time.

"Daddy," Scorpius cried, bouncing up onto the bed and narrowly missing Draco's injured leg.

"Hey, buddy," Draco said, moving Scorpius further up the bed so he was away from his leg. The last thing he wanted was for his son to jump on his leg and redo all the damage that had hopefully being fixing itself over the last ten days.

"I'm bored," Scorpius declared with a pout. "When can you play with me?"

"We can play here," Draco suggested.

"I want to play outside," Scorpius said.

"Sorry Scorp, I'm still stuck in bed with my bad leg," Draco replied with a sigh. There was nothing he would love more than to be outside with his son, but right at the moment it just wasn't possible.

"The leg that went crack," Scorpius said, emphasising the work crack and pulling a funny face.

"Yeah, that leg," Draco replied.

"Why can't Mummy fix it?" Scorpius asked with a pout.

"Mummy can't fix everything," Draco said with a shrug. "I just have to rest."

"Boring," Scorpius replied in a sing-song voice as his eyes darted around the room, obviously looking for trouble he could get into.

"I'm with you there," Draco muttered just as his wife swept into the room, her jacket on and carrying her bag.

"Scorpius, here you are. I thought I told you to get your jacket," She scolded.

"I forgot," Scorpius answered with a shrug.

"Well go and do it now, your grandparents are expecting you," She ordered, helping the five year old off the bed and shooing him off to his room. "I swear that boys deliberately disobeys me."

"He's just a challenge," Draco replied. "Like his father."

"Now that I believe," His wife said, giving him a shrewd look.

"So where are you and Scorp going?" Draco asked, wondering if his wife had mentioned going out and he'd forgotten about it.

"I'm taking him to your parents for the afternoon, then I've got a few things to do," She replied, checking her hair and make-up in her dressing table mirror. "Oh, and you're expecting a visit from your healer this afternoon."

"I am?" Draco frowned.

"Yes, something about seeing how much movement you've got in your knee," His wife said as she turned back around. "I think this could be the end of your bed rest."

"Let's hope so," Draco muttered.

"Good luck, and I'll see you later," His wife said, giving Draco a quick kiss before she headed out of the room, calling for Scorpius.

Draco listened to his wife and son leaving the house, his son complaining loudly about not being allowed to take his new broomstick to his grandparents' house. Once they'd left, there was a stillness in the house and Draco found himself missing them as he lay in his bed, with only the magazines on his bedside table for company. Out of boredom he picked up one of the quidditch magazines and started flicking through it. Ten minutes later he was still bored, and he threw the magazine to the floor in annoyance.

However, five minutes after he'd discarded the magazine he thought he heard noise downstairs. At first he wondered if they were bring broken into, but then he remembered what his wife had said about getting a visit from his healer. Sure enough, moments later he heard footsteps on the stairs, followed by a knock on his partially closed bedroom door.

"Come in," Draco called.

When the door opened all the way, Draco was confronted by his healer, Hermione Granger. Hermione had her long, brunette curls pinned up on top of her head and she was wearing a tight fitting black skirt that stopped mid-thigh and a clingy purple blouse that clung to the round globes of her breasts.

"Malfoy," Hermione greeted, placing her healers bag down on the bed beside her patient.

"Hello Granger," Draco returned.

"I've told you before, it's not Granger anymore," Hermione replied with a smile.

"You'll always be Granger to me," Draco said with a shrug.

"How are you feeling?" Hermione asked, deciding it wasn't worth trying to stop Draco from calling her be her maiden name.

"Bored shitless," Draco replied eloquently.

"I was talking about your knee," Hermione said with a chuckle. "Any residual pain?"

"Not anymore," Draco answered.

"And you've been doing the exercises I gave you?" Hermione checked as she moved around the bed.

"Of course," Draco replied with a nod. "My wife's a slave driver and she's been making sure I follow healer's orders."

"I've always said you needed a firm hand, Malfoy," Hermione said with a smirk.

"I never say no," Draco retorted.

Hermione chuckled as she shook her head at the flirtatious blond. "Let's have a look then."

Leaving the pillow under Draco's knee, Hermione rolled up the leg of his jogging bottoms and gently probed his knee. For the next five minutes, she cast a few spells to check on the interior damage Draco had suffered, as well as making sure he could move his knee.

"Let's get you on your feet," Hermione ordered. "Do you need help?"

"I think I can stand up on my own," Draco replied with a roll of his eyes.

While Hermione backed away from the bed, Draco gently swung his legs over the side of the bed and gingerly got to his feet. However, as he did so, his trouser leg fell back down and covered his knee.

"I can't see your knee now," Hermione said.

"No problem," Draco replied and before Hermione could react, he'd yanked down his trousers, leaving him in just his t-shirt and black boxers.

"You're not shy, are you?" Hermione chuckled as Draco stepped out of his jogging bottoms.

"You're my healer, Granger, you've seen it all before," Draco replied with a smirk.

"That I have," Hermione agreed. Pointing her wand at Draco, she cast a silent spell on his knee, encasing his knee in a pale blue glow. "Just walk around the room for me."

As Draco walked around the room, Hermione watched the colour around his knee. The idea was that the colour would change if Draco was in any pain, or if his injury hadn't fully healed. Aside from a couple of flares of darker blue, the light remained light blue and Hermione was happy with the progress Draco was making.

"What did the dark blue mean?" Draco asked.

"It indicates some tightness in your muscles," Hermione answered. "Get on the bed and I'll give you a quick massage, it should help with the tightness."

"Face up or down?" Draco asked.

"Start face down," Hermione said as she wandered over to her bag and grabbed some medicinal massage oil. Since Hermione specialised in sports injuries, and actually worked for a quidditch team, she was used to massaging her patients.

Once Draco was settled on the bed, Hermione rubbed a bit of massage oil on her hands and started to slowly massage the backs of Draco's legs. As she focused on doing her job, a pleasant silence fell between her and Draco. However, they were both very aware of Hermione's hands on Draco's skin, especially when her fingers inched under his boxers to get to the top of his legs.

"You can turn round now," Hermione said after nearly ten minutes.

When Draco turned over, Hermione rolled her eyes when she spotted the tent in his silk boxers.

"Seriously?" She asked. "Do you have no control?"

"Let's think, I have a sexy witch rubbing her hands all over me. Of course I'm going to get aroused," Draco said. "The same thing would happen to you."

"Of course it wouldn't," Hermione replied as she started on Draco's front, starting at his ankles.

"I bet a massage by me would have you soaking wet," Draco said with confidence.

"You're such a cocky git," Hermione muttered.

"But yet you don't deny it," Draco chuckled.

"Be quiet, Malfoy," Hermione grumbled.

For once Draco did as he was told, and remained quiet as Hermione slowly worked his way up his legs. By the time she reached his knee, his erection was straining at his boxers and he was biting his lip to stop himself from moaning. Looking up, Hermione smirked as she spotted how hard Draco was trying not to make a noise.

"Poor thing, I bet this injury has put a dampener on your sex life," Hermione purred as her hands crept higher up his thigh.

"I've managed," Draco said through gritted teeth. "My wife is more than happy to take charge."

"I see, all you do is lie there and she does all the work," Hermione chuckled.

"What can I say, I like her on top," Draco muttered.

"Funny enough, that's my favourite position as well," Hermione said, causing Draco to let out a low groan. "Sorry, I'm not helping am I?"

"No you're not, you sodding tease," Draco growled as Hermione's hand disappeared under his boxers, her warm hands mere millimetres away from where he desired her touch.

"I could help you," Hermione offered, looking at Draco with lust pooling in her brown eyes.

"What did you have in mind?" Draco asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I could help you deal with your problem," Hermione whispered, removing her hand from under Draco's boxers and lightly ghosting it over the front of them, brushing over his erection.

"I won't say no," Draco replied with a smirk. "I suppose a healer is meant to help."

"We are," Hermione confirmed with a nod. "You just lie back, Malfoy, and I'll make you feel better."

Draco watched with lust filled eyes as Hermione stepped away from the bed and slowly slid the zipper down on her skirt. Dropping her skirt to the floor, she then unbuttoned her blouse and dropped it next to her skirt, leaving her in a very sexy lacy red bra and matching knickers.

"Nice, Granger," Draco purred, his eyes raking over Hermione's curves.

"I thought so," Hermione said.

Heading back to the bed, Hermione leant over Draco and giving him a tantalising view down her bra, she tugged at the bottom of his t-shirt. Knowing exactly what the healer wanted, Draco yanked the t-shirt over his head and threw it onto the floor. Hermione ran her fingers down Draco's firm torso, impressed with his quidditch toned physique.

"You're still teasing," Draco whispered in Hermione's ear.

"Sorry," Hermione replied, letting her hand trail lower down Draco's torso and ever so slowly creep into his boxers.

"Bloody hell," Draco gasped when Hermione's delicate hand closed around his throbbing erection.

"Very nice," Hermione purred, her hand running up and down Draco's considerable length.

"Do you want to see?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"Go on then," Hermione replied, removing her hand and sitting back on her heels.

Slowly Draco lowered his boxers, exposing himself to Hermione's eyes. Almost as soon as his boxers had disappeared, Hermione swung her legs over Draco's waist and straddled him. Draco growled in aggravation as Hermione's lacy knickers rubbed against his burning flesh.

"You're still teasing, Granger," He snarled, reaching up and pulling the pins out of her hair, causing it to fall all around her shoulders.

Hermione chuckled in response, before surging forward and pressing her lips against Draco's. The second their lips touched all teasing and taunted ended, and they clung onto each other as they practically devoured each other. Their passion was palpable with their hands running all over each other's heated bodies. Reaching in between them, Draco grabbed hold of Hermione's lacy knickers and with a low growl he ripped them away from her heated core.

"Bad boy they were new," Hermione pouted, her complaint turning into a loud moan when Draco ran his fingers over her newly exposed flesh.

"I'll replace them," Draco muttered, not at all bothered by the underwear he'd just ruined.

"I'll hold you to that," Hermione replied, but before she could say anything further, Draco reconnected their lips as he rubbed himself against her. Still lost in their embrace, Hermione sunk down onto Draco, creating simultaneous moans from the couple.

"Careful of my knee," Draco warned with a groan as he flicked open Hermione's bra and peeled it away from her body.

"Sod your knee," Hermione panted as she began to rock against Draco. "It's perfectly fine."

"Perfectly fine?" Draco demanded, reaching up and stopping Hermione from her actions. "Are you telling me you've had me laid up in bed for no reason?"

"No, you did need to rest," Hermione replied. "But your knee is now fine."

"But how long has it been fine?" Draco asked, still keeping Hermione from moving.

"I don't know, a few days maybe," Hermione confessed.

"A few days?" Draco exploded as he surged up and quickly manoeuvred Hermione so she was pinned underneath him. "Why didn't you tell me sooner? I've been bored out of my skull in this bed."

"I know, but I've been really busy this week and with Scorpius to contend with, I thought it was easier if I kept you in bed," Hermione admitted in a small voice. "But I'm making up for it now. Scorpius is at your parents for the entire night, so we're all along until tomorrow."

"Oh you are going to pay for this Mrs Malfoy," Draco warned, glaring down at his sexy wife. He'd been thoroughly enjoying their little game, but now he wasn't sure what to think now he'd discovered that Hermione had kept him in bed longer than needed.

"I'm sure I can make it up to you," Hermione purred, running her hands down Draco's back and squeezing his backside. "But if you don't move soon, I'm going to injure more than your knee and this time when you're laid up in bed I'll not be taking charge in our sex lives. In fact, you'll be sex free as you'll not be getting any from me."

"There's no need for either of us to be sex free," Draco said, rolling his hips against Hermione's. "But you still need to be punished."

"Punish me all you want," Hermione replied with a grin, knowing exactly what sort of punishment her husband had in mind.

"I intend to," Draco growled as he roughly connected his lips with his wife's, and the pair made the most of their son being away for the night and Draco's newly healed knee.

Of course, Draco didn't forget that Hermione had let him lounge in bed for longer than necessary and over the next few weeks he took full advantage of his wife's guilt over the matter.


	8. Not Again

**Not Again.**

Hermione Granger slowly cracked open her eyes, groaning slightly when the room that came into view wasn't her own bedroom. Opening her eyes fully, she took in the opulent room which was clearly a hotel room. She also took note of the clothes strewn haphazardly around the room, including her new black bra which was draped over a lamp.

"Not again," she muttered, checking the time and finding that at least she hadn't slept all night. She must have just dropped off for an hour after the exertions of earlier in the evening.

At her mutterings she felt the bed behind her move and a strong arm snaked its way around her bare waist. When the hand belonging to the wizard in bed with her reached for her bare breasts, she batted it away.

"Knock it off Malfoy," she ordered, not having to turn around to know who she was in bed with. After all, who else would have been able to lure her into a hotel room against her better judgement and all the promises she'd made to herself.

"You weren't telling me to knock it off an hour ago," Draco retorted. "If anything, you were begging for more. Anyone would think you hadn't had sex for weeks."

"Months actually," Hermione replied, sitting up and wrapping the covers around her body. Turning to look at Draco she found the handsome blond wizard looked quite at home sprawled naked in bed beside her.

"Ah yes, the baby," Draco said with a nod.

"The baby," Hermione confirmed. "The reason we can't do this anymore. We've talked about this, and we agreed it had to stop."

"Actually, I think you said it should stop and I was forced to agree with you," Draco argued. "Personally, I don't see the harm."

"The harm is my son is at home being looked after by his grandparents, while I'm here with you," Hermione said. "I've got responsibilities now Draco. I can't keep doing this. I won't keep doing this. Luckily I didn't sleep the entire night, so I can at least go home to my son."

"It's not like he's alone," Draco said with an unconcerned shrug.

"That is not the point," Hermione protested with a firm shake of her head. "I can't keep doing this. This is the final time."

"So you say now, but you'll change your mind," Draco predicted with confidence.

"No, I won't," Hermione replied, swinging her legs out of the bed.

Despite the fact she'd only recently given birth, and still wasn't back in ideal shape, Hermione stepped from the bed completely naked. She was aware of Draco's grey eyes following her every move as she gathered up her clothes, but she refused to look at him and give into temptation. Draco had always been able to get under her skin, and despite her firm words, Hermione wasn't totally convinced she would be able to say no to returning to bed if he truly turned on the charm.

"I don't believe this," Hermione muttered, finding her knickers under a nearby chair and discovering they were torn.

"That's the beauty of magic," Draco said, picking up Hermione's wand from the bedside table and throwing it to her.

"It's not the same though," Hermione argued as she fixed her knickers and pulled them on.

"You could have always left them off," Draco said. "Or better still, return to bed just like you know you really want to."

"What I want to do and what I will do are two very different things," Hermione replied as she continued to dress. Once she was in her dress and had slipped on her heels she walked over to the bed and leant over Draco, gently brushing her lips over his. "Goodbye, Draco."

"You make it sound so final," Draco said, reaching up and stroking Hermione's soft cheek.

"It is," Hermione replied. "This is the last time you'll get me into a hotel room."

"Is that a challenge, Granger?" Draco asked with a wicked smirk. "I love a challenge."

"No, it's not a challenge, it's a promise," Hermione said with an amused shake of her head. "And it's not Granger anymore, as you well know."

"You'll always be Granger to me," Draco replied. "And I will take what you've just said as a challenge. I refuse to believe this was our last time."

"Believe it," Hermione called as she grabbed her bag, blew Draco a kiss, and exited the bedroom.

Leaving the hotel where she'd been attending a charity dinner earlier in the evening, Hermione hurried home, well aware that she was late. Thankfully her parents-in-law were oblivious to her bad time keeping as they'd gotten so caught up in babysitting their grandson. After chatting to her parents-in-law about their respective evenings, albeit it failing to mention that she very nearly didn't make it home, Hermione double checked her son hadn't been any bother, before she said goodbye to them and headed off to check on her sleeping son for herself.

"I'm sorry little one," Hermione whispered, stroking his soft head. "I was a bad girl and let myself get distracted, but it won't happen again. I won't be tempted again."

"Now that's a shame," a voice from behind her called.

Hermione whirled around at the voice, rather shocked to find her husband leaning against their son's bedroom door. "Where did you come from?"

"The same place as you," he replied with a shrug.

"That was quick," Hermione remarked.

"What was the point in staying the night without you?" Draco asked as he entered the room. "Once you left, I got dressed, settled the bill and followed you home."

"There never should have been a bill to settle," Hermione scolded. "We talked about it Draco. We can't keep going out for the evening and booking into a hotel for the night. Not now we've got Scorpius."

"I know," Draco admitted with a sigh. "But it wasn't as if we spent the entire night. We had a few hours of fun, and I bet Mother and Father didn't even realise we were late."

"No, they were too caught up with each other," Hermione replied. "I returned to find them snogging on the sofa like teenagers."

"See, between looking after Scorpius and reliving their youth, they had no time to worry about why we were late," Draco said. "So there was no harm done."

"Only because I woke up," Hermione argued. "What if I'd fallen asleep for longer than an hour? What happened if we'd both crashed out and didn't wake up until morning? We can't just abandon Scorpius like that. It was fine when there was just the two of us, but we've got our son to think about now."

"We wouldn't have slept all night, I'd already placed an alarm on my wand," Draco confessed. "But I just wanted to give you a relaxing evening when you didn't have to focus on being a mother. Let's be honest, we haven't exactly had a lot of time for each other since Scorpius was born. And for a few hours tonight, it was just like old times."

"It was," Hermione conceded with a smile as she recalled the feeling of being rebellious as she and Draco ducked out of the dinner early and headed to the hotel room. "And I know I didn't say it earlier, but thank you for tonight. It was nice to spend some time together as a couple."

"It was, and it's something I'm going to make sure we keep doing," Draco said as he took his wife in his arms. "I know we can't spend the night in hotels on the spur of the moment, but we can do what we did tonight and sneak a few hours for ourselves. And I'm sure once Scorpius is older and you're ready to be parted from him overnight, my parents would love to have him."

"I can live with taking a few hours for ourselves," Hermione replied. "And you're right, when Scorpius is older I'm sure he can spend the odd evening at the manor. But right now, he's just a baby and I don't want to leave him."

"The feeling is entirely mutual, Hermione," Draco said, turning around so that he and Hermione were looking down at their son. "I want to be here for him as much as you do. I just don't want to neglect our marriage."

"We won't," Hermione reassured her husband. "We can do both. We can be the best parents we can, and still keep our marriage alive and happy."

Hermione and Draco remained in the nursery for another few minutes, before they left Scorpius's room and headed to the master bedroom. Climbing into bed, they snuggled down in each other's arms, feeling contented after their earlier exertions. Hermione decided that Draco was right, and they needed to make sure they made time for each other. As much as they loved Scorpius and loved being a family, they didn't want their relationship to suffer. They weren't going to turn into one of those couples who only remained together for the sake of their children. They loved each other very much, and that was the way it was going to stay. Nothing, not even their precious son, was going to come between them and the love they shared.


	9. Worn Out

**Worn Out.**

It was going on for the middle of the afternoon when Blaise Zabini returned to the office after a late lunch. Blaise had formed a partnership after school with his best friend, Draco Malfoy, and the pair had created the most successful Potions Company the wizarding world had ever known. A little less than ten years after leaving school the pair were super successful and their business was worth a fortune. However, neither wizard was ready to pack it all in and sell the business for a huge profit, in fact they were talking about expanding the business even further.

Wondering if Draco was back from his own lunch meeting, Blaise poked his head into his best friend's office. When he found Draco's desk empty, he figured his best friend still wasn't back, but just as he was leaving a small grunt captured his attention and craning his neck around the corner he found Draco sprawled on the sofa in the corner of the office, snoring softly.

Chuckling to himself, Blaise entered his best friend's office and made his way over to where Draco was lying. Reaching out, he shook his best friend's shoulder. Jolting awake, Draco shot up on the sofa.

"Okay, okay, I'm ready," He mumbled blearily as his hands reached for the zipper on his trousers.

"Whoa," Blaise called. "What are you doing Draco?"

"Blaise?" Draco frowned at his friend as if surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"The question is, what were you doing?" Blaise retorted. "Do you normally greet people who wake you up by flashing at them?"

"Bloody hell," Draco grumbled, quickly re-zipping his trousers and sitting up and getting his bearings. "Sorry Blaise, I thought you were someone else."

"I don't know whether to be concerned by that," Blaise said with a frown as he sat down next to his best friend. "The only person I could imagine you flashing is your wife, and I'm not sure that it's flattering that you've mistaken me for Hermione."

"It was just a momentary lapse," Draco said, running his hands down his face to wake himself up.

"And do you normally whip your goods out when Hermione wakes you up?" Blaise questioned.

"I do lately," Draco replied with a snort.

"Ah, the baby making," Blaise chuckled, knowing his best friend and his wife were trying for a baby. "I'd kill for that much sex. Since Daphne had the baby our sex life is dead."

"She had Naomi two weeks ago," Draco pointed out. "Although quite frankly, I'm envious of you and your lack of sex."

"How can you be envious of me when you've got a hot witch begging you for sex day and night?" Blaise questioned. "Isn't that where you were at lunchtime?"

"It was," Draco answered. "Not that I got any lunch, I was too busy to eat."

"Nice," Blaise remarked with a grin.

"I don't know about nice, but its bloody knackering," Draco grouched. "Who knew having a baby would be this hard work."

"I still don't get why you're complaining about sex," Blaise said. "I thought you and Hermione had a good sex life."

"We do, but I've never had to perform on demand before," Draco replied. "It's getting out of control with her charts and optimum times for conception. She's got sex pinpointed down to the exact minute, and we now only have sex on schedule."

"No spur of the moment quickies?" Blaise questioned in horror.

"Definitely not," Draco replied with a rueful shake of his head. "We can't waste any precious sperm you know."

"Too much information, Draco," Blaise grimaced. "But none of this explains why you're sleeping in your office in the middle of the afternoon."

"Last night was a hot night for conception, so I was up half the night performing my husbandly duties."

"And then you had a lunch appointment," Blaise finished with a smirk.

"Yes, so I'm bloody knackered," Draco grouched. "And it doesn't stop there. I've got more to do tonight."

"Poor sod," Blaise laughed as his got to his feet. "Not that I would complain about that much sex."

"You were lucky enough to get your wife pregnant without trying," Draco shot back. "If Daphne had you on this sort of punishing schedule you would be complaining as well."

"I still say it's not as bad as you think," Blaise said with a shrug. "Anyway, I'll leave you to it, I've got work to do."

"So do I," Draco said as he got to his feet and made his way over to his desk.

Leaving his best friend to try and get some work done, Blaise headed back to his own office. All afternoon he was hard at work, and he didn't give Draco a second thought until he went to find the details of the new premises they were thinking of buying and remembered his best friend had been using them earlier that week. Heading to Draco's office he found his best friend had left for the evening, and when he found no sign of the papers he needed, he decided he would call in on Draco on his way home to ask him where the papers were.

When Blaise called at Draco's, his friend was eager to see him and he ushered him inside and gave him a drink. With no sign of Draco's wife, Blaise settled down in the front room with Draco and enjoyed a drink with his oldest friend. Draco also had the papers Blaise wanted at hand, and he passed them over to his friend.

"Draco," Hermione's voice suddenly called from upstairs, interrupting the pair.

"Bollocks," Draco hissed, glancing at the clock.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" Blaise asked with a smirk.

"Not at all, business is important," Draco replied as footsteps could be heard on the stairs.

Seconds later, Hermione entered the room wearing one of Draco's old quidditch tops. Despite being happily married, Blaise couldn't help but check out his best friend's wife. The top was slightly too big for Hermione, so the top had slid to one side, revealing a creamy white shoulder and her long, toned legs were on display from under the top that skimmed the tops of her thighs.

"I didn't realise you were here, Blaise," Hermione said with a slight frown, which she directed in her husband's direction.

"Sorry to disturb, but I just had a bit of business I had to discuss with Draco," Blaise replied. "I really should be going and leaving you two to it."

"There's no rush, finish your drink," Draco urged his friend.

"Yes Blaise, finish your drink, I'll just borrow Draco for five minutes," Hermione said.

"Five minutes? Wow, that's quick," Blaise snickered.

"Blaise," Draco hissed warningly as Hermione blushed slightly, before telling Draco she expected him in the bedroom within five minutes and made a sharp exit.

"Sorry, I didn't meant to embarrass her," Blaise muttered.

"I'm sure you didn't embarrass her too much," Draco replied. He knew Hermione was used to Blaise, so he suspected that she wouldn't be too flustered by his words.

"Seriously, I must be going," Blaise announced as he finished his drink and got to his feet, remembering to grab the file he'd come for. "Enjoy your night Draco. Although, I'm not sure how you couldn't enjoy it with Hermione dressed like that."

"She was looking pretty hot," Draco agreed with a smug smirk.

"She was," Blaise said with a nod. "See you tomorrow Draco. That is if you've survived the night."

"I might be bloody tired, but it will all be worth it in the end," Draco said, letting his mind drift to the end result and the baby he and Hermione so desperately wanted.

"It will be," Blaise agreed with a grin, as his thoughts turned to his own daughter and how much he loved her. "And Draco, look on the bright side. At least you get to shag a hot witch numerous times a day. You might have to perform on schedule, but you shouldn't have any problem with the motivation considering who you're married to."

"Draco," Hermione's voice called again. "Are you coming?"

"I'll be there in a minute," Draco called back. "Sorry Blaise, but duty awaits."

"Enjoy," Blaise called with a grin as he said goodbye to his friend and disappeared home.

The next day, Blaise was amused to find Draco was slightly worse for wear and he almost fell asleep at their morning briefing. However, in the end he declared the sex on demand had been worth it as Hermione announced she was pregnant a few weeks later. Although Draco still didn't get the rest he wanted straight away as in the early months of her pregnancy, Hermione's sex drive flicked into overdrive and she couldn't get enough of her husband. Thankfully it had calmed down by the latter stages of her pregnancy, but then Draco's sleepless nights were caused by his new-born son, Scorpius, not his wife. Still in the end, Draco decided that the months of tirelessly trying for a baby had been worth it as Scorpius was the light of his life, and his birth completed the family he and Hermione had always wanted.


	10. The Scar

**The Scar.**

In Draco Malfoy's penthouse apartment the sexual tension was bubbling as Draco entertained his new girlfriend, Hermione Granger. Draco and Hermione had been dating for nearly a month, following their recent graduation from Hogwarts. The pair had actually gotten closer during their last year at Hogwarts, but with exams and the pressure of leaving school and entering the wizarding world as adults, nothing had happened between them back then. However they'd now been left Hogwarts several months and they'd both settled into jobs, so when they'd bumped into each other a few weeks earlier it seemed like the perfect time to act on their attraction.

For the previous month, the pair had enjoyed several dates, but their current date had extra meaning. Right from the off the sexual tension between the pair had been strong, but not wanting to rush into anything, they'd refrained from doing more than heavy petting and heated snogging. But when Draco suggested they had a quiet night in at his penthouse they both knew that sex was on the menu.

Sure enough once dinner was over the pair retired to the front room, with its large windows offering spectacular sights of London. However, the view was the last thing on either of their minds as they settled down on Draco's large white sofa with a glass of wine each. For a while they continued to just chat as they'd been doing over dinner, but before long their wine was neglected on the glass coffee table and they were engaged in their usual heated kissing session.

Kissing soon progressed into something more, and eager hands tore at the other's clothing. Draco's deep blue shirt was the first to go, revealing his flawless, toned torso. Then went Hermione's flimsy purple top, leaving her in a sexy purple and black silk bra. When Draco then removed Hermione's skirt, he found she was wearing a pair of matching purple and black silk knickers.

"Very nice," he said admiringly in a low voice.

"I'm glad you approve," Hermione replied with a chuckle.

"But I bet you look even better out of them," Draco added, giving Hermione a wicked smirk.

"Why don't you find out," Hermione teased, beckoning Draco to come closer.

Not needing a second invitation, Draco swept down on Hermione, and pinning her underneath his larger frame, he reconnected their lips as his hands ran over her body. Not wanting to rush, Draco took his time exploring Hermione's body with his hands and mouth as he slowly stripped her of her sexy lingerie set. While Draco was exploring Hermione's body, she wasn't exactly idle and her small hands were hungrily exploring Draco's body.

Hermione yanked the zipper down on Draco's trousers, and when her hand slid into the gap she'd created and rubbed against his boxers, the blond let out a low groan. Smirking at the sounds she could produce out of her boyfriend, Hermione snuck her hand inside his boxers and wrapped it around his hard appendage.

"Damn, Hermione," Draco muttered, his hot breath tickling Hermione's ear as he let out a low growl as Hermione's hands continued to tease him. "You're a tease."

"You're the tease," Hermione retorted, arching herself up slightly so her bare breasts brushed against Draco's chest. "You're still hiding yourself away. If I can't see you, I'll have to feel you."

Chuckling slightly as he realised what Hermione wanted, Draco gave her a lingering kiss before he pushed himself off her and got to his feet. When he looked back and found Hermione sprawled naked on his sofa, he briefly forgot why he'd stood up, but the throbbing in his trousers reminded him. Giving Hermione a wicked smirk he slid his trousers down his legs. Loving the fact that Hermione was watching him such a lust filled expression, Draco teasingly pulled his black boxers down his legs.

Hermione licked her lips appreciatively as Draco exposed himself to her eyes. They'd done enough for her to know he wasn't lacking in the trouser department, so she wasn't disappointed in the sight that greeted her. Draco was rather impressive fully clothed, but he was breath-taking when he was naked.

"Like what you see?" Draco teased as he slowly turned around to give Hermione a complete view of him in all his glory.

Hermione's eyes devoured the sight as Draco turned around in front of her. As he turned, she noticed a vivid scar on his left buttock and idly wondered what had happened. However, Draco's scar was soon forgotten as her boyfriend returned to the sofa and they carried on with what they'd been doing.

For the next couple of hours, the couple were lost in each other as they made love for the first time. As expected, given the strong attraction between the pair, the sex was very memorable and ranked as the best either of them had ever had. After a very decent work out, the couple finally collapsed onto the sofa together, needing a rest before they could engage in further fun. The pair were so exhausted, they didn't even have the energy to move to Draco's bedroom. Instead they remained on the sofa, entangled in a naked heap.

As they recovered and got their breath back, Hermione's hands absently wandered over Draco's body, where they eventually fell to his backside. As she stroked his firm backside, her fingers traced over a slightly raised part of his skin and suddenly remembered his scar.

"How did you get the scar?" She asked as her fingers continued to trail over his backside.

"Do you really need to hear the story?" Draco asked with a grimace.

"Sorry, you don't have to tell me if it brings back bad memories," Hermione replied, feeling guilty for prying.

"It's just embarrassing," Draco confessed with a sheepish smile as he propped himself up on his elbow so he could face Hermione properly.

"Embarrassing is good," Hermione replied with a mischievous smirk.

"It might be for you, but not for me," Draco protested. "We're just starting out, and now you want me to tell you the most embarrassing story of my life."

"Wow, now I'm really intrigued," Hermione chuckled. Reaching down onto the floor she picked up Draco's shirt and slid it on, just fastening a few buttons to cover herself up slightly.

"Ugh, I'm going to have to tell you now, aren't I?" Draco grumbled.

"Not if you don't want to," Hermione replied, giving Draco a pitiful smile.

"Okay, but let me just remind you that when I was younger I was an idiot," Draco said as he sat up next to Hermione and quickly pulled on his boxers. "I was also easily led astray by certain people."

"Let's guess, Blaise is involved in this story somehow," Hermione laughed. Blaise Zabini was Draco's best friend, and he was a larger than life wizard who had a knack for finding trouble.

"He's not just involved, he's the reason for the scar," Draco replied. "This goes back to the summer before sixth year and Blaise's mother had a new boyfriend. They went off to Italy on holiday, and Blaise didn't want to be alone so he dragged me along with him. Now Blaise's mother isn't exactly the parental type at the best of times, but when she's got a man in her life, she's downright neglectful."

"Basically, you and Blaise were two sixteen year old wizards in Italy with no supervision," Hermione concluded.

Draco nodded. "Precisely. As you can imagine, we went a bit wild. We went out drinking and met a few girls, things like that. Anyway, Blaise then had the bright idea that we should get tattoos."

"Tattoos at sixteen?" Hermione fronded. "What sort of tattoo place would give underage wizards tattoos?"

"It's surprising what a few galleons can do," Draco replied with a shrug. "Anyway, Blaise found a place where we paid a little extra for them to turn a blind eye to our ages. Since we were underage, we didn't want anyone spotting our tattoos so we decided to get them on our arses."

"As you do." Hermione snorted with laughter at the thought of Draco and Blaise getting tattoos on their backside. "Just don't say they were matching ones?"

"Of course not," Draco replied in indignation. "Mine was a dragon, while Blaise got a snake."

"So what happened?" Hermione asked. "All you've got is a scar."

"My father happened," Draco muttered darkly. "To be honest after a couple of months I never gave the tattoo a second thought, and by Christmas I'd practically forgotten about it. Anyway, one morning over Christmas break I'd just gotten out of the shower when my father came into my bedroom. He doesn't normally come into my room without knocking, so I was standing stark naked in the middle of the room."

"And he spotted the tattoo," Hermione guessed, holding back her laughter as she pictured the scene.

"He did," Draco confirmed. "And he went ballistic. He was fuming that I'd gotten a tattoo at such a young age, and he warned me there and then that I would be having it removed. I tried to argue, but he threatened to go and get Mother, and I was not going to show my mother my bare backside."

"I'm sure Narcissa has seen your backside before," Hermione remarked.

"Yeah, when I was a baby, I've grown a bit since then," Draco retorted, giving Hermione a knowing smirk. "So obviously there was no way I was going to let that happen."

"So you let Lucius remove the tattoo?" Hermione asked.

"I wish," Draco muttered. "That's what I expected to happen, but father wanted to punish me some more so he took me to a professional tattoo and scar removal specialist. I had to lie there, backside on full display, while this bloke I'd never met before removed a tattoo from my arse."

"Embarrassing," Hermione said with a laugh. She could just imagine how mortified Draco would have been by the entire incident. "But that doesn't explain the scar if that bloke was a professional."

"Father's last lesson," Draco said with a sigh. "He wanted me to never forget what an idiot I'd been so he told the wizard to leave a noticeable scar. Now I'm beginning to think it was for moments like these. Now I have to explain my scar to witches I get naked with."

"You can't tell me I'm the first witch you've slept with since you've had the tattoo removed," Hermione protested. "Did no-one else ask about the scar?"

"Yeah, a couple did but I brushed them off," Draco replied with a shrug.

"Then why tell me?" Hermione asked. "Why didn't you just make up an excuse, or tell me to mind my own business."

"I'm serious about you, Hermione, and I want you to know everything," Draco replied earnestly. "Even if it is very embarrassing," he added with a chuckle.

Hermione smiled at the gesture. Even though they'd only been together a few weeks, it was nice to know that Draco was serious about her and didn't want to hide anything from her. Hermione hoped it meant they had a long future ahead of them, and that everything would work out between them.

"Thank you for trusting me enough to tell me," Hermione said as she leant forward and connected her lips with Draco's. "And I promise, I won't tell a soul."

"Thank you," Draco replied with a relieved smile. "Can you just imagine the stick Potter and Weasley would give me if they knew I'd once had a dragon tattoo on my backside? Somethings are better left in the past."

"We've all done stupid things in our youth," Hermione reassured Draco.

"I doubt anything you've ever done is as stupid as getting a tattoo on your arse," Draco snorted.

"True, I don't think I can top that," Hermione chuckled.

"Do you think we can drop the subject now?" Draco asked pleadingly.

"I might be persuaded," Hermione said slyly as she unbuttoned the buttons on the shirt she was wearing. "Do you think you can persuade me, Draco?"

"I'm sure I can manage it," Draco replied with a grin as he pulled Hermione into his arms and crashed his lips against hers.

Five minutes later, tattoos were well and truly forgotten about as the couple moved into Draco's bedroom, where they spent the rest of the night making use of his king size bed. Of course the subject of Draco's tattoo came up over the years when Hermione wanted to taunt the blond wizard, but on a whole they barely mentioned the incident from Draco's past.


	11. Stolen Moments

**A/N - This is a rather saucy piece, and quite possibly won't ever be anything else than the collection piece it is now.**

* * *

 **Stolen Moments.**

Hermione Granger sat at the kitchen table in Grimmauld Place barely paying attention to the meeting going on around her. The war against Voldemort and the dark had been going on for years and Hermione doubted that The Order would be able to come up with any new plans to gain the upper hand in a fight they were rapidly losing. Just recently whispers suggested that Voldemort had been making himself some new Horcruxes. That news hadn't gone down well with The Order and they had been in a bit of a panic since they heard the rumours.

Halfway through the meeting Hermione felt one of the charms on her bracelet heat up. Placing her arm under the table where no-one could see she checked out the co-ordinates that flashed up on a book charm before they faded away. Suddenly anxious to get away Hermione sat through the rest of the meeting in nervous anticipation. When the meeting was over she was one of the first people on her feet.

"Are you not staying Hermione?" Ginny Weasley asked as Hermione put her jacket on.

"Not tonight Gin," Hermione replied. "It's been a long week, I just want to go home and have a nice relaxing bath."

"That sounds like a good idea," Harry Potter remarked, coming up beside Ginny and wrapping his arm around her waist. "Maybe that's what we should do, Gin," He suggested, throwing a lecherous grin at his girlfriend.

"And that's my cue to go back to The Burrow," Ginny's brother, Ron Weasley, announced as he stood up and grabbed his own jacket. "Do you want me to walk you home, 'Mione?"

"No, thanks, I'm just going to apparate it's quicker."

"Be careful," Harry warned. "You never know who's lurking about these days."

"That's why I'm apparating, Harry," Hermione told her friend. "See you later," she said, waving to her friends before she left Grimmauld Place.

Once outside, she apparated home to her modest flat and grabbed a quick shower. She then got dressed again, in a tight green strapless dress and high heels, before grabbing her wand and apparating away again.

This time Hermione landed in the middle of a large bedroom. The room was decorated in black and white and the entire back wall was made of glass, looking out over a spectacular lake. Against the opposite wall sat an enormous bed, covered with black and white silk sheets. Just looking at the bed had Hermione's breath quickening as she remembered the many pleasurable hours she had spent in it.

Since she was clearly still alone in the house, Hermione walked over to the large dressing table and began checking her reflection in the mirror. Hermione was just trying to get a stray curl to stop falling in front of her eyes when she spotted a quick flash of black in the mirror. Before she had a chance to turn around she felt a warm presence behind her and she was suddenly trapped in between the dressing table and the hard body behind her.

"Don't move and watch," a low voice whispered in her ear.

Hermione's eyes flicked up to the mirror in front of her and she found herself staring at the silver mask of a Death Eater. The man in black standing behind her tilted his head and looked at her through the mirror, but he didn't say a thing. Nor did he remove the mask that was hiding his identity.

Hermione kept her eyes locked onto the man behind her as his hands gripped her hips tightly and pulled her back slightly so she was flush against him. Hermione almost groaned when she felt his hardness pressing against her but she managed to control herself. However a few minutes later when one of his hands travelled up to her breasts and cupped one in his hand she couldn't control herself and a quiet whimper slipped out. The whimper turned into a moan a few seconds later when he roughly pulled down the top of dress, exposing her full breasts.

"Very nice," he muttered, his hand closing over Hermione's breast and gently squeezing.

Bringing his other hand up he cupped her other breast and began toying with them, causing Hermione to moan and whimper.

"Do you want more?" he asked, watching her response in the mirror.

Not trusting her voice to hold out Hermione nodded in response.

"You have to actually say the words," he chuckled. "Tell me what you want."

"You," Hermione gasped, pushing back against his arousal. "I want you inside me."

"Good girl."

Hermione groaned in disappointment when his hands left her breasts and began slowly travelling down her torso. The man behind her chuckled as his hands leisurely moved back down to her hips. Travelling a bit lower his hands reached the bottom of her dress and he tauntingly pulled it up her thighs, watching her skin slowly being exposed in the mirror in front of him. Hermione felt his breath hitch when he pulled her skirt up to her waist and found she was wearing no knickers.

"I was wrong, you're not a good girl," he hissed in her ear. "You're a naughty one."

Hermione's soft laughter in response quickly turned to moaning when his fingers started exploring the wetness between her legs. Hermione moaned and whimpered as the talented fingers danced across her lower area and when they were abruptly taken away she opened her mouth to protest. However she didn't manage to utter a word before her legs were been nudged apart and a forceful hand on her back had her bending over the dressing table.

Hermione braced herself against the wooden surface and moved her legs further apart as she heard the rustling of clothes behind her. A few seconds later she felt his hard erection pressed against her and couldn't help but moan as he slid against her wet folds. Hermione's eyes returned to the mirror and she looked at the silver mask, wishing it wasn't in the way of what she really wanted to see, his expressive grey eyes.

"Are you ready?" he asked, his hand reaching round to caress her breast as he continued to tease her down below.

"Yes, do it, please," Hermione begged.

Despite the silver mask hiding his face she felt the smirk as he thrust his hips forward and buried himself deep inside her. Both parties moaned at the feeling and there was a brief pause before he pulled out before plunging back into Hermione again. Settling both hands on Hermione's hips, he set a fast and furious pace which had them both panting and moaning loudly. In the flurry of activity Hermione felt the pressure building in her abdomen. Pushing back against her lover he hit just the right spot inside her and she came suddenly with a loud scream. Hermione's orgasm brought her lover to the edge and a few shallow thrusts later he was panting his own completion.

As she recovered Hermione turned around to face her lover, luckily the table behind her supported her slightly wobbly legs and she managed to stay upright. Reaching up she slowly removed the silver mask, pushed back the hood and unbuttoned the black cloak her lover was wearing. Shedding the Death Eater garb to the floor she found herself looking at her secret lover, Draco Malfoy.

"Hi,"she smiled, pleased to actually see Draco. What they had just done was hot as hell, but there was nothing quite like looking into Draco's soulful grey eyes as they snatched forbidden moments together.

"Hey," Draco smiled back, before leaning down and pressing his lips against Hermione's.

Hermione eagerly responded to the kiss and wrapped her arms around Draco's neck. Pressed right up against him they both moaned as her nipples grazed his chest and Hermione smirked when she felt his manhood twitching back to life. Stamina was one of Draco's best qualities and it was one of the things that made him such an exceptional lover.

"I've missed you," Draco whispered as he broke the kiss.

Hermione felt the tears prick the back of her eyes at Draco's sentiment, but not ready to let reality intrude on their time together, she smiled at him as she shimmied out of her dress. Kicking the dress to one side she began fully undressing Draco. Once Draco was naked she took him by the hand and led him to the bed. Pushing him back onto the sheets she gestured for him to get comfortable, while she reached down to remove her heels.

"Don't," Draco ordered, before she removed her first shoe. "Leave them on."

Laughing at her lover, Hermione clambered onto the bed in her green heels. Straddling Draco she reconnected their lips as his hands began wandering over her bare flesh. The sad reality of their relationship could wait, right now they had catching up to do.

* * *

Hermione slowly began to stir as the morning sun streamed into the bedroom, hitting the bed where she was lying sprawled across Draco. It had been the early hours of the morning when they'd finally fallen asleep, after they'd spent hours making love. As she slowly woke up, Hermione turned her attention to Draco and found the blond was still sleeping soundly beside her.

Not wanting their time together to end, Hermione remained snuggled up in bed beside her lover. However, deep down she knew she would have to be leaving soon. They were playing a dangerous game meeting up the way they were, but neither of them could help themselves. Their affair had been going on since before they'd left school, and even though they both knew they had no future together they couldn't resist one another. They may have been on opposing sides of the war, and it would mean trouble for both of them if their fling was discovered, but they both got off on doing something they shouldn't. Then of course there was the fact that over the years they'd developed feelings for one another, and their purely sexual connection had taken a deeper turn.

As Hermione was lost in thought about how hopeless their situation was, Draco had slowly woken up and he was lying watching his lover. Even without asking, he knew exactly what she was thinking about. They could manage to spend hours together and never think of the mess surrounding them as long as they were busy, but the moment they sat back and relaxed, reality inevitably intruded and they were forced to think about what they were doing. Draco especially was playing with fire as if Voldemort ever discovered he was bedding a muggleborn, he wouldn't think twice about killing him.

Not wanting to deal with their real life, Draco reached out and ran his hand down Hermione's back. Instantly she looked up, and greeted him with a dazzling smile.

"Morning."

"Morning, gorgeous," Draco replied with a smile of his own. "Do you have to rush off?"

"Not just yet," Hermione replied, wrapping her arms around Draco's neck and pulling him down into a heated kiss.

In one easy move, Draco had flipped them over to that Hermione was underneath him. Still kissing, he buried himself inside his lover and they began to slowly make love. They were both aware that the time would soon be upon them to go their separate ways again, so they took their time as the morning sun streamed into the room, hitting the bed as their naked bodies moved sensually together.

An hour later their lovemaking had come to a satisfying conclusion and they reluctantly rolled out of bed and began to redress in the previous evening's clothes. They dressed in silence, and it wasn't until they were ready to leave that they spoke.

"I have to go," Hermione whispered.

"I know," Draco replied in a sad voice.

Whenever they parted, he wanted nothing more than to grab Hermione and run off somewhere with her, but he knew it was just a pipe dream. They were stuck in their lives, and running away wasn't going to solve anything. All they would get was people chasing them, and ruining the precious time they did have to be together.

"Let me know when you're free," Hermione said. It was getting to the point where she lived for the times when her bracelet would light up with co-ordinates to a house Draco knew they could use for a few hours of alone time.

"Of course," Draco said with a nod. Picking up his robes and mask, he gave Hermione a sad smile. "See you around, Granger."

"Next time, Malfoy," Hermione responded, biting back her tears.

Quickly sharing one final kiss, the couple pulled out their wands and apparated back to their separate lives. Neither of them knew when they would next see each other, or even if they would survive until they got a chance to meet up again, but their stolen moments were what they were living for these days. In the midst of a horrifying war, which was going to change the entire wizarding world forever, they'd found a little bit of happiness and they were going to cling onto it until they had no choice but to say their final goodbyes to one another.


	12. Inebriated

**Inebriated.**

For the last week the beautiful Malfoy villa on the Sardinian coast had been playing host to Draco Malfoy, his wife Hermione, and their best friends, Blaise and Daphne Zabini. After a glorious week in the sun, their holiday was reaching its climax. On their last full day at the villa, the two couples had chosen to stay at the villa and have a barbecue. Daphne and Hermione had mixed a few cocktails, but then Blaise had taken over and added so much alcohol they'd become lethal. Eventually Hermione and Daphne had stopped drinking before they got drunk, but Blaise and Draco hadn't been so sensible and they'd ended up staggering around the pool looking worse for wear.

"The pair of you are going to regret all this drinking in the morning," Daphne remarked as Blaise tripped over a flip flop, landed flat on his back on the grass and broke out in hysterical laughter.

"We can dandle our hink," Draco slurred, swaying slightly on his feet.

"Sure you can," Hermione laughed.

Leaving the boys to their fun, Hermione and Daphne headed into the villa. They'd only been inside for a few minutes when Draco came staggering in, looking distinctly green, and hurried upstairs.

"Aren't you going to go and check on him?" Daphne asked when Hermione made no move to follow her drunk husband.

"He's the fool who drank too much," Hermione replied with a shrug. "Let him look after himself."

"You're a cruel woman, Hermione," Daphne laughed.

"You would be the same with Blaise," Hermione retorted.

"True, I have no sympathy for self-inflicted illness," Daphne agreed, just as Blaise came into the room swaying on his feet and humming merrily to himself.

"You're so pretty," he cooed to Hermione, reaching out and stroking her hair. "I'm so lucky to have you."

"You don't have me, your wife is over there," Hermione remarked, pointing to Daphne.

"Daph?" Blaise questioned, squinting at Daphne as though he'd never set eyes on her before.

"Yes, Blaise, I'm over here," Daphne replied with an indulgent sigh.

"Lovely wife," Blaise muttered as he turned towards the stairs. In his drunken state he couldn't quite manage to walk up them, so he resorted to crawling up them instead.

"We are two lucky witches," Daphne remarked sarcastically.

"Let's just be grateful they don't do this all the time," Hermione said with a laugh. "I don't think I've ever seen either of them this drunk before."

"They really have outdone themselves today," Daphne agreed. "I wonder if we should go and check on them."

"They're probably crashed out somewhere," Hermione said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "It does seem to be quiet up there."

Hoping that Hermione was right and the silence meant the drunken pair had fallen asleep, Daphne made them both a fresh cocktail and they carried on with the conversation they'd been having before the boys had interrupted them. For an hour the two witches chatted and all but forget about their drunken husbands, until Daphne went to the bathroom and called down for Hermione to come upstairs.

"I swear if one of them has been sick, I'm not cleaning it up," Hermione muttered as she headed up the stairs.

Hermione found Daphne in the doorway of the master bedroom she and Draco had been using, and joining her friend, she quickly spotted what she'd wanted her to see. Draco had collapsed onto the bed, his t-shirt gone and his shorts halfway down his legs. As for Blaise, he was lying passed out on the floor, sucking his thumb like a baby.

"What a sight," Hermione laughed.

"I've snapped a few pictures," Daphne said, dangling her expensive camera in front of Hermione. "They should make for some pretty good blackmail material."

"I think we can get some better pictures than these," Hermione said with a smirk. "Do you fancy having a bit of fun, Daph?"

"Always, what do you have in mind?"

"I thought we would teach the boys a lesson about drinking too much," Hermione replied, telling Daphne what she was thinking.

"That is wicked, I love it," Daphne cackled.

While Daphne used magic to haul Blaise to his feet, Hermione headed over to the bed and yanking the messy covers off the bed, she finished taking Draco's shorts off him. She then removed his boxers and left him lying on the bed stark naked. Once she was finished with Draco, she helped Daphne get her unconscious husband onto the bed next to his best friend. Daphne then undressed Blaise until he was also naked.

"Now for the finishing touches," Hermione giggled, taking Blaise's arm and wrapping it around Draco.

Stepping away from their handiwork, Daphne snapped a few X-rated pictures of the two friends in bed together. Hermione then threw the covers back over the pair of them and laughing at their mischievousness, they headed back downstairs until one of their husbands woke up and the fireworks began.

It actually took longer than they thought for either Draco or Blaise to emerge from their drunken stupor and it was nearly midnight before the tranquillity was shattered by an ear-piercing scream.

"Was that Draco or Blaise?" Daphne asked.

"I don't know, it sounded like a girl," Hermione replied with a laugh.

"Let's go and see," Daphne said as they jumped to their feet and raced up the stairs to witness the fun.

Entering the bedroom they found a bleary looking Blaise lying flat out in bed, still stark naked, while Draco was standing beside the bed, the covers wrapped around his waist covering his modesty.

"What was that scream?" Hermione asked innocently.

"Draco," Blaise grumbled. "I think he's broken my ears, they're ringing and my head is pounding."

"Drink will do that to you," Daphne said, showing no sympathy to her husband.

"Why did you scream?" Hermione asked Draco, who was still standing looking shell-shocked.

"I woke up to find Blaise in bed with me," Draco gasped. "We were naked and he had his hands on me."

"Hey, I was sleeping I had no idea where my hands were," Blaise argued, still sounding slightly groggy from all the drinking whereas the shock of waking up to find his best friend groping him seemed to have helped sober Draco up.

"Where were his hands?" Daphne asked. "They do tend to wander in the night."

"I'd rather not think about it," Draco replied with a shudder. "Needless to say it's a memory that will haunt me until I die."

"Don't be such a drama queen," Blaise muttered, rolling his eyes and then immediately cursing at the fact it made his head spin even more than it already was. "I've seen you naked before. We did live together at Hogwarts for seven years."

"But never in that time did you get into bed with me and have a grope of my goods," Draco shot back.

"Not that you're aware of," Daphne said with a laugh.

"Please say you never did that," Draco gasped, turning to his best friend in horror.

"I've never groped you before," Blaise reassured his friend. "Not that I meant to do that now, I was drunk and can't even remember anything."

"Keep it that way," Draco muttered. "And we will never tell anyone that we ended up in bed together."

"Definitely," Blaise agreed with a nod.

"In that case I guess we better not show anyone the pictures we have," Hermione said to Daphne.

"Pictures?" Draco squealed.

"What pictures?" Blaise asked warily.

"The pictures we took when we put you to bed," Daphne answered.

"You," Blaise hissed, pointing at the two witches. "You two did this."

"We did," Hermione confessed as she and Daphne began to laugh. "Although if you hadn't been drunk and unconscious, we wouldn't have been able to do it."

"You undressed us and put us in bed together?" Draco frowned. "You made Blaise grope me?"

"No, he did that on his own," Daphne laughed. "We merely settled you in bed together."

"But why naked?" Blaise whined.

"It was a bit of fun," Hermione answered with a shrug. "Although it's not as if you're bothered by being naked, Blaise. You've been lying there with your family jewels on display throughout the entire conversation."

"I've got nothing to hide," Blaise replied with a smirk. "Unlike Draco who's hiding himself away like a shy little girl," he added mischievously.

"I don't have anything to hide," Draco insisted as he let the covers drop away from him and brazenly stood in all his glory.

"I think all this nakedness is becoming too much for me," Daphne muttered with a shake of her head. She'd always known her husband and his best friend were shameless, and this just proved it.

"Me too," Hermione agreed. "Do you boys want to be left alone, or are you going to sleep in separate beds."

"I'm out of here," Blaise declared, jumping off the bed and cursing when the room began to spin. "Bollocks, I hate hangovers."

"The answer to that is not to drink," Daphne scolded her husband as she gathered his discarded clothes. "Come on, let's get you to bed and hopefully you've learnt your lesson."

"Which is?" Blaise asked.

"Don't get so drunk that you end up in bed with your best friend without any clothes on," Daphne replied.

"But that wouldn't have happened if you and Hermione hadn't messed with us," Blaise pointed out.

"Fine, don't get so drunk that your wife can put you naked into bed with Draco," Daphne muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Don't worry, this will never be happening again," Draco called as the Zabinis left the bedroom to return to their own room. "The only person allowed to grab my goods is Hermione."

"Which won't be happening tonight," Hermione warned her husband. "Not that I'm sure you could even manage it with the amount you've drunk today."

"It was Blaise," Draco whined. "He's a bad influence."

"You don't need anyone to lead you astray, you're perfectly capable of causing trouble yourself," Hermione chuckled. "Although with any luck, Daphne and I have taught you a lesson."

"Yeah, never get drunk when you're around," Draco retorted. "I suppose I should think myself lucky Blaise was the only one around. Imagine if you'd pulled that trick with someone like Potter, or even worse, Weasley. That would be grounds for divorce, I'm telling you."

"Finding your husband in bed with his best friend could be grounds for divorce," Hermione countered.

"But you put me in bed," Draco argued with a pout.

"Actually, you were already in bed," Hermione said. "I just finished undressing you and then we added Blaise to the fun."

"One thing's for sure, I'll never forget this holiday," Draco muttered as he headed into the bedroom to try and find a potion that would help with his pounding head. "And I'm never drinking again," he promised as he returned to the bedroom and flopped back down on the bed.

"We'll see," Hermione chuckled as she got undressed and crawled into bed with her husband.

No doubt Draco would drink again, but Hermione was sure that it would be a long time before he got so drunk that he would be so out of it that he could be undressed and put to bed with his best friend.


	13. The Postcard

**The Postcard.**

A little over two weeks after leaving Hogwarts for the final time, Hermione Granger, was still adjusting to life after school. In the space of a few weeks her entire life had changed. She'd said goodbye to her home with her parents in the muggle world, and started her new life in the wizarding world. Although Hermione wasn't alone in her new life, she was living with her boyfriend, Draco Malfoy.

Hermione and Draco had first started getting friendly in their sixth year when they'd worked on a couple of homework projects together, and then when they'd both been made head students in their final year, romance had blossomed. By the time they'd graduated they'd been serious about their relationship, and it had seemed like the natural thing to find somewhere to live together once they'd left school.

Not that it had really taken much finding as the couple were currently residing in a luxury penthouse owned by Draco's family. Under normal circumstances, Hermione could never have afforded such a place, especially as she was still mulling over her career options, but as Draco had pointed it, it was stupid to find somewhere smaller and pay rent when they could live in the penthouse free of charge. Although to be honest, Hermione suspected Draco was only using that logic so that he could remain living the life of luxury, as her boyfriend was rather spoiled and she doubted he would want to live outside of his comfort zone.

Although Hermione herself was more than happy with the living arrangements, and she was loving life outside of Hogwarts. Now all she needed to do was decide what she wanted to do with her career and everything would be sorted. Draco had already started working at the family business alongside his father, Lucius, but Hermione couldn't quite decide what she wanted to do with her life. She had job offers and information from several different companies and lines of work, and now she had to work on narrowing them down and picking a career that she would enjoy and that would be fulfilling.

Eager to make some choices about her future, Hermione had risen early one Saturday morning and was enjoying a peacefully breakfast on the balcony of the penthouse while perusing her job literature. She'd left Draco sound asleep in bed, and it was almost an hour before her boyfriend emerged onto the balcony, still looking half asleep.

"What on earth are you doing up at this time of the morning?" Draco blearily asked as he sat down beside his girlfriend and poured himself a cup of coffee from the pot Hermione was keeping hot with magic.

"It's already eight," Hermione retorted.

"That's early for a weekend," Draco pouted. "I was hoping for a lie-in."

"You could have stayed in bed," Hermione replied with a shrug.

"But where's the fun in that?" Draco questioned. "The whole idea of a lie-in is that you're in bed with me."

"Tomorrow," Hermione promised, giving her boyfriend a quick kiss.

"Tomorrow it is then," Draco agreed. "But you can still pay me some attention today. We've got the whole weekend together. You can make some decisions about your future later."

"It's alright for you, you've got a job," Hermione retorted. "Not all of us have rich Daddy's with multi-million businesses that they need help running."

"If it's a job you want, just say the word," Draco said with a chuckle. "Father would love to have you on board. In fact, he'd probably prefer you to me."

Hermione laughed, but she wasn't sure just how serious her boyfriend was being. Hermione had been initially hesitant about meeting Draco's parents as they were staunch purebloods, but the older couple had welcomed her into their family with open arms. In fact she got on famously with the pair of them and she especially loved the debates she could get into with Lucius, who like Draco, wasn't afraid to argue with her and stick to his own guns when he thought she was wrong about something.

"I'm being serious," Draco told his girlfriend. "If it's something you want to consider, we can find a position for you easily enough."

"I don't want to be known as the boss's girlfriend though," Hermione pointed out.

"The company is so big we can find you a role where you never need set eyes on me," Draco replied. "Just think about it."

"I will," Hermione promised as she gathered up the papers she'd been looking at and stacked them on an empty chair. "So what do you want to do for the weekend?"

"I'm sure we'll think of something," Draco said, giving his girlfriend a sinful smirk.

"I'm sure we will," Hermione agreed with a laugh.

However, before they could make any decisions on what the weekend would hold for them, they were interrupted by a large, unfamiliar barn owl swopping down onto the balcony. The owl sat patiently on the back of one of the empty chairs while Draco untied the postcard around its ankle, before it snapped up a piece of toast and went soaring into the bright morning sky.

"Is that the Eiffel Tower?" Hermione asked, tilting her head to get a good look at the postcard in her boyfriend's hands.

"It is," Draco replied with a frown. "Who do we know in France?"

"I can't remember anyone saying they were going away," Hermione replied. "Why don't you look and see who it's from."

"Daphne," Draco said as he turned the postcard over and instantly recognised the neat handwriting of his friend, Daphne Greengrass.

"I didn't know she was going to France," Hermione said, wondering why Daphne had never mentioned going on holiday.

"Holy crap," Draco muttered, his grey eyes widening in shock when he read what Daphne had to say.

"What is it?"

Instead of replying, Draco wordlessly handed the postcard over to Hermione. Hermione quickly read what Daphne had to say, and when she did her mouth fell open in surprise and she had to read certain sentences more than once to believe what she was reading.

"Bloody hell," she whispered when she was finally able to talk.

"Indeed," Draco agreed with a nod of his head. "What do we do?"

"What can we do?" Hermione questioned with a shrug. "It's her life and her choice."

"Yeah, but she's left us with the job of dealing with Blaise and Potter," Draco argued.

Draco and Hermione's relationship had resulted in the Gryffindors and the Slytherins learning to get along in their last year of school, and it had been revealed that Hermione's best friend, Harry Potter, was harbouring a crush on Daphne. The only problem was, the second Harry started showing an interest in Daphne, Draco's best friend, Blaise Zabini, professed his own love for the elegant blonde witch. The end result was almost an entire year of the two boys competing for Daphne's affections. However, by the end of the year, neither wizard had won her over, but they'd both been determined to continue the wooing once they'd left Hogwarts.

"It's not ideal, but they need to be told," Hermione said with a shrug. "Let's send them a message and hope they can deal with rejection like men."

"It'll be a first for Blaise, he's not used to being rejected," Draco chuckled. "In fact I think Daphne is the first witch not to succumb to his charms within a matter of moments."

"And now we know why," Hermione snorted. "I thought she was genuinely torn between Blaise and Harry. Did you know there was someone else in the picture?"

"I had no idea," Draco replied with a shake of his head. "Although I still can't believe it. How long do you think it's being going on?"

"I shudder to think," Hermione said with a shrug. "Come on, let's go and get this over with."

"This is just how I wanted to spend my Saturday morning, breaking a couple of hearts," Draco muttered as he followed his girlfriend back into the penthouse.

Quickly the pair sent off messages to their two best friends, asking to see them as soon as possible. Not knowing how long they would have to wait for a reply, the couple settled down in the living room, but barely ten minutes had passed before the floo network lit up and Blaise stepped from the flames. Almost directly on his heels was Harry, who seemed as bewildered by the summons as Blaise had been moments earlier.

"This is so much easier now you're together," Hermione said to the boys. "Sit down, we got something to tell you."

"You're pregnant," Harry guessed.

"No, I'm not," Hermione said, shaking her head. "But even if I were, why would we just summon the pair of you?"

"To ask us to be godfathers," Blaise said. "Because obviously, you'll have to give us both the job."

"What about Ron?" Hermione asked. "He's also my best friend."

"And Theo," Draco added.

"Fine, so when you have kids, you'll have four godfathers," Blaise said with a dismissive shrug.

"That will not be anytime soon," Draco insisted. "But that isn't even why we asked to see you. It's about Daphne."

"She's finally made her choice," Blaise deduced with glee. "Sorry Potter, but I'm the clear winner here."

"As if," Harry snorted. "If she wanted to be with you, she could have been dating you for years. Besides, you only want her because I do."

"I set my sights on Daphne long before you noticed her," Blaise retorted.

"Enough," Draco called, raising his hands to stop the squabbling. "Neither of you have won. Daphne's eloped."

"Eloped?" Harry repeated in a shocked voice. "As in, married?"

"Yes, we received a postcard from her this morning," Hermione confirmed. "She got married yesterday."

"Who to?" Blaise demanded. "Don't tell me Theo crept in and swept her off her feet?"

"No, it's worse than Theo," Draco replied.

"Worse than Theo. Hell no, don't tell me she ran off with Weasley," Blaise groaned.

"No, not Ron," Hermione said.

"Then who?" Harry demanded. "Who did she marry?"

"Severus," Draco answered in a quiet voice.

"Severus?" Blaise questioned with a frown. "Who the hell is Severus?"

"Professor Snape," Hermione clarified.

"Snape," Blaise exploded, jumping to his feet. "She married Snape. Tell me this is not happening. I could understand losing out to Potter, I could even cope with losing out to Theo, and at a push I guess I could deal with losing out to Weasley. But Snape? How the hell can anyone prefer Snape to me? Look at me, I'm a sex god in comparison. Can Snape even manage to get it up at his age?"

"He's not that old," Draco retorted. Severus was several years younger than his parents, and as disturbing as it was, he knew they still had a healthy sex life.

"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked, aware that Harry was staring blankly into space and look shell-shocked.

"I think I'm going to be sick," he muttered.

"I don't blame you mate," Blaise said. "I feel rather queasy myself. I don't think I'm ever going to live this humiliation down. Fancy being passed over for Severus bloody Snape."

"It's really not something you want to dwell on," Harry agreed with a shudder. "Did she say why him?"

"No, she just said they'd gotten married and asked if we could break the news to the pair of you," Hermione replied. "I've got the postcard if you want to see it for yourselves."

"No," Blaise answered quickly. "What I want is to just forget this ever happened. I want it wiped from everyone's memory that I was once interested in Daphne. I don't think my ego can take being overlooked in favour of a dour old Potions Master."

"It doesn't exactly give you confidence," Harry agreed. "But I do want to know one thing. How long has she been involved with Snape? Was it going on during school?"

"If they're married, it had to have been. We've only been left school for two weeks, and no-one gets together and gets married in that short space of time," Blaise remarked. "Damn, if he hadn't stolen Daphne from me, I might have even been proud of old Snape. I bet not every Professor can say they've bagged a hot student."

"I should hope not," Hermione said with a scowl. "If this was going on before we left school, Professor Snape could be in serious trouble."

"I bet you any money, he quits his job," Draco said. "In fact, he might have already done it."

"I would say let me know what happens, but I don't think I want to hear much more of this sordid tale," Blaise remarked. "What I need now is to get steaming drunk and forget Daphne Greengrass ever existed. What do you say, Potter, care to join me?"

"I would," Harry said, nodding his acceptance. "Let's go and drown our sorrows, Zabini. And for the record, I would much rather it was you that I lost out to. I can't believe anyone would choose Snape over us."

"Daphne's the one missing out," Blaise said, clapping Harry on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go and find some girls who know a good thing when they see it. There has to be some normal witches out there, who would rather be with two young, sexy wizards such as ourselves, rather than stuffy, sexless goats like Snape. Hey, do you want to come as well, Draco?"

"No thanks, I don't need to trawl for witches, I've already got the perfect girl," Draco replied.

"Yeah, at least you know you're not going to lose Hermione to an old man," Harry said. "Damn, maybe I should have gotten in there before you, Malfoy. Hermione's pretty hot."

"Thanks Harry, but you're not my type," Hermione said with a laugh. "And don't worry, I'm sure the pair of you will bounce right back and find someone new."

"Yeah, someone who won't leave us for a crusty old Professor," Blaise snorted.

With Blaise and Harry still bemoaning their loss, the pair said their goodbyes and headed off to come to terms with the fact the witch they both fancied had ran off and married their former Potions Professor. It was certainly an unusual start to life after Hogwarts, and a one that no-one had seen coming. After all, who could possibly have foreseen that the beautiful and elegant Daphne Greengrass would fall in love with the brooding, grouchy Potions Professor, Severus Snape, and the pair would elope to France within weeks of school ending?


End file.
